The Way We Live Now
by bearbaitbrook
Summary: Hermione, Ron,and Harry complete their seventh year at Hogwarts after the second wizarding war. Rated T for mild language
1. What now?

**Dislcaimer: I do not own any of the characters from the original Harry Potter franchise. They all came from the wonderful brain of JK Rowling.**

**This is my first fan-fic... I hope you like it! Please Review!**

Chapter One

Hermione Granger dragged her tired and broken body up to the girl's dormitory in the Gryffindor Tower. After all that had happened that night, she doubted that she would be able to sleep, but going through the motions of a familiar routine might help her forget some of what had happened that day. Harry and Ron had gone to bed long ago, but she had stayed awake thinking about all that had happened and how what had gone down that night at Hogwarts would affect her future, and the futures of all those that she loved.

Laying her body down on her bed, she fell asleep almost immediately, to her surprise.

By the time she awoke the next morning, it was close to ten a.m. Although she had slept through the night, she felt like she hadn't slept in days. Looking around the dorm though, she discovered she wasn't the only one to have overslept. She pulled on some clothes, and went down to the common room, where she found Ron and Harry sitting on the couch in front of the fire, each eating a piece of toast that must have come from the plate sitting between them.

"Morning" she said, grabbing a piece of toast, and sitting down on the floor between them. "Get any sleep?"

"A little" replied Ron. "I couldn't stop thinking. I kept seeing Fred… right before… it…happened." As he said this last part, he choked up, and closed his eyes as tears began to squeeze out at the memory of the brother he had lost only the night before.

Hermione moved to sit on the couch next to him, and took his hand, squeezing it tightly. Ron smiled weakly, and wiped his eyes before asking "So what's next?" "I reckon we should go home with mum and dad for Fred's funeral, but then what?"

Harry spoke up for the first time all morning. "I think that after the funeral, we should all move into Grimmauld Place. Since we don't have the ministry and the Death Eaters trying to get in there to find me, I reckon that the place would be a good place to go. See if any one else wants to move in with us."

Ron and Hermione nodded their consent, and again fell silent for a time. Hermione broke the silence by saying "I don't know about you two," Hermione said, "but I'm coming back to Hogwarts next year. I'm going to talk to McGonagall about it soon. I know that I'm already doing magic advanced what we would have learned in our seventh year, but I would like to be able to say that I've completed Hogwarts, and to be able to take my N.E.W.T.'s before I pursue a career. Compared to what we've done in the last year, Hogwarts will feel like a vacation. Before term starts, I'm going to try to find my mum and dad in Australia so that they can come back home."

"That sounds like something that I would like to do too." Ron said. "I know that I'm never going to be as good at magic as you are, Hermione, but I would like to advance a little bit further. Besides, if I'm going to be an Auror, it would be worth it for me to know a bit more magic."

"Me as well" Harry said. "I have a feeling that we won't be the only ones coming back; just think: Neville spent a majority of the year either being beat up by the Carrows or hiding in the room of requirement. Same with Seamus. Dean was on the run for most of the year. And there's bound a lot of kids pulled out by there parents before things got really bad… pulled out and into hiding. They'd want to finish their education too."

"So that settles it then." Hermione said. "We're all coming back to Hogwarts next year. We should speak to McGonagall about that sometime… she has a lot on her mind right now. And until school starts, we're going to be at Number Twelve Grimmauld Place."

Harry and Ron nodded their consent, and the trio finished their toast in silence.

Standing up, Hermione pulled Ron up with her. Looking at him and Harry, still sitting on the couch, she said "We should go down to the Great Hall. I have a feeling that your mum is going to want her whole family together, Ron".

Together, they descended the stairs leading to the Great Hall, where they went and sat down next to Mrs. Weasley. She pulled Ron to her, giving him a smothering hug, before doing the same to Harry and Hermione, in turn. "I'm so glad you're all safe! I was worried sick about you all!" She looked them all up and down sadly, as if to make sure that they looked all right, before allowing them to sit down across from her.

Ron, under the table, grabbed Hermione's hand.


	2. The Funeral

Chapter Two

Two days later, Hermione was sitting on a camp cot that had been set up in Ginny's room. She and Harry had come to the Burrow with the Weasley's for Fred's funeral, which was to be the next day. The minister that was going to be used was the same minister who had preformed Dumbledore's funeral, as well as Bill and Fleur's wedding. Fleur, currently three months pregnant, and Bill were coming up from Shell Cottage for the funeral that night. Getting up, she went downstairs, where Mrs. Weasley had breakfast on the table. She was in the midst of telling Ron and Harry to degnome the garden and put the chickens up in the coop when Hermione walked in.

"Ah, Hermione! Breakfast?" Mrs. Weasley asked her briskly, trying to hide the sadness in her voice, which is sure to come with burying a child.

"Yes, please" Hermione answered before asking "Is there anything you would like me to help with?"

"Oh, would you?" Mrs. Weasley asked. "That would be wonderful! I've always said that planning a funeral is like planning a wedding in about three days time. Could you help me in the kitchen? I'm planning on having a little reception after we get done with the funeral. There are a lot of people coming, and the least I could do to thank them for coming is to feed them all."

"Of course" Hermione answered. "Whatever you need me to do."

The next day at noon, Hermione was upstairs getting dressed. She put on a black dress, and wore her hair up in a knot. After checking her appearance, she went downstairs. Ron was already there, fumbling with his tie.

"Here, let me" Hermione said, going over to him, moving his hands, and tying the tie herself.

"You would think that I would have figured out a way to tie that thing by now" Ron mumbled. "I've had to wear it enough times."

They waited together for Harry and Ginny to come down, and then the four of them went outside, where a large tent, much like the one for Bill and Fleur's wedding, was set up. A casket was set up at the front, and over twenty rows of chairs sat facing it. They took their places in the front row, where they sat silently, waiting for the funeral to start.

Twenty minutes later, the tent was filled with witches and wizards from all around the country who wished to pay their respects to Fred, and the cause that he had died for.

"Death," the minister began, "is not an ending, but rather a beginning. Fred Weasley died in the fight against He Who Must Not Be Named, in the hope that those of us here today might have a new and better beginning. He lived his life hoping to create a few more laughs; it is up to us to continue on with this legacy. Fred's twin brother, George, wished to speak a few words today… George?"

George stood, and slowly walked up to the podium where the minister had just been standing. He took a piece of paper from his pocket, and unfolded it. Clearing his throat, he began reading what he had written:

"_I can never remember a time when Fred and I weren't together. We were born together, lived together, caused trouble together… you name it and we've probably done it together. I can remember a time when we wanted to send Ginny a toilet seat from Hogwarts to cheer her up. Though I love my other brothers and sister dearly, there has never been a time when I have felt as close to them as I did to Fred. It was like we were one person living in two separate bodies. I couldn't imagine living without my twin brother, and suddenly, I was faced with this reality." A single tear dripped down George's face. "My brother is gone, and he is never coming back. I can only hope that he is in a better place, and that I will someday see him there, causing as much trouble as he did in life. In the meantime, I can only hope that he is watching over me, and that I do him justice in continuing his legacy: 'Laughter is the best medicine'. Fred, I love you, miss you, and will never forget you. Thank you."_

Silent tears, by this time, were dripping down the faces of half of the congregation, as well as the faces of all the Weasley's, Harry, and Hermione.

The minister continued on with the service, but Hermione didn't hear half of it. The reality of what they were all facing suddenly hit her. "Ron, or Ginny, or Luna could have all just as easily been in Fred's place" she thought to herself. "You, of all of your friends, have quite possibly the least to loose, and yet you haven't even checked to see if your parents, the only family that you have to loose, are even alive."

"Amen" the minister said, finishing a lengthy prayer. "Mr. and Mrs. Weasley would like to invite you all to a small reception in thanks for appearing today to honor Fred's memory. If you would all please stand." As the people all stood, he waved his wand, and about twenty round tables appeared under the tent.

Looking at Ron for the first time since the funeral began, she saw tears staining his face. She pulled him into a tight hug for several moments, before pulling away and wiping the tears off his face. Taking his arm, they went in search of a table.

**Thank you for reading! Reviews are appreciated! I already have a lot written so I should be able to post fairly regularly!**


	3. Mr and Mrs Granger

**Long chapter this time! Sorry that the other ones were so short, but they were hard to write and I couldn't think of anything to add to them to make them any longer. Please please please review! I want to know what you think!**

Chapter Three

They stayed at the Burrow for another week, as Mrs. Weasley was hesitant to let any of her family out of her sight, especially Ron whom she had not seen for almost a year. But once the week was up, they packed up their trunks, as well as Hermione's small beaded bag. Holding tightly onto Hermione's arm with one hand and holding onto their trunks with the other, they disapperated with a faint pop, reappearing seconds later at the doorstep of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, the house that Harry's godfather Sirius Black had left him. Stepping inside, they saw that the protective jinxes had been removed- Hermione had a feeling that they had broken with the death of Snape, the person that the Order believed to have killed Dumbledore. Walking inside they saw that the house had been completely overturned. Curtains were torn down and ripped to shreds, papers scattered the floor, pieces of furniture were overturned, some missing legs or arms. "It's a good thing that we didn't decide to try to come back here" Harry said, mostly to himself, but loud enough so that the others could hear him. "You were right, Hermione. We let Yaxley inside of the Fidelious charm's protection… I would be willing to bet that he let a bunch of Death Eaters into here."  
>"Me too." Hermione answered looking at the mess. "Well, I may as well clean this up." And with a wave of her wand, the curtains flew back into their proper places, papers stacked themselves in neat piles on tables, and the furniture righted itself and reattached missing limbs. Within minutes Grimmauld Place was as clean as it had been when Harry had walked out the door for the last time several months ago.<p>

"That's much better" Hermione said. "Well, I'm going to go unpack. I'll be down in a little bit."  
>"Right" Ron answered. "We may as well do that too, Harry"<p>

Hermione pointed her wand at their three trunks and murmured "Locomotor trunk" and watched as the trunks rose a few feet into the air. Ron and Harry followed her and their trunks up the stairs. They came to a stop on the second floor landing. Hermione let the trunks down. She grabbed hers and walked into the room that she had shared with Ginny when she had stayed here in the past. Ron walked into the room across the hall, while Harry, like Hermione, murmured "Locomotor trunk" and proceeded up the stairs to the room that used to belong to Sirius.

Hermione had finished putting the last of her clothes into the closet, and turned around to look around the room. Looking at the piano sitting in the corner, she sighed, thinking about how much she'd missed playing. She had played the piano since she was three; throughout her years of magical study, she hadn't had the chance to practice very often, but she played whenever she could. She found for her it was the best way to sort through a problem. She crossed the room, and examined the lock that prevented her from opening the piano cover. Pointing her wand at it she said "Alohamora". She tried pushing up on the cover, but it wouldn't budge. "Typical" she thought. "Is there anything that isn't locked, dangerous, or permanently stuck in this place? I might as well look for a key… there has to be some way to open this thing." She opened up the bench, but found nothing besides a rather impressive collection of music. She looked on top of the piano, in the night stand, and in the dresser. Finally, on a whim, she pushed a chair over to the dresser, stood on it, and ran her hand over the top of it. Her fingers brushed something cold, which turned out to be a rather old and rusty key. Crossing her fingers, she inserted the key into the lock, and turned it, and then raised the piano cover. She sat down at the bench, and began playing Fur Elise, an old favorite of hers. It was one of the first full pieces she could remember playing, and had been her favorite ever since.

Loosing herself in the music, she didn't even notice Ron come and stand in the door, listening to the music with his eyes closed. When she finished the piece, she turned around and got off the bench before noticing him. "Oh, hi Ron."

"Was that you playing?" He asked.

"Yeah, it was" she answered.

"I've never heard you play before. That was amazing!"

"Well… thanks!" she answered blushing a pretty shade of pink. "I've been thinking… I should go and try to find my mum and dad. The danger is over, and I've really been missing them. I think I'm going to try to leave by next week."

"What makes you think that you're going by yourself?" Ron asked. "Haven't you figured out by now that we're all in this together? Besides, I'd like to meet your mum and dad. I'm sure that Harry would too. I know that you would just have to apparate to Australia and ask around, and do some spells to find them, but I don't like the idea of you out by yourself. Call me crazy, but… it's just a feeling."

Hermione gave him a look that plainly said "I'd be perfectly fine on my own" but said instead "Alright. I will admit that I don't want to be by myself… that was the part that I wasn't looking forward to. And before I did the memory charm on them, I was always telling my parents about you two and they really wanted to meet both of you. Let's find Harry and see if he wants to come with us."  
>They walked upstairs to Sirius' room. Hermione knocked on the door and called "Hey, Harry, can we come in? We want to talk to you about something." Harry opened the door. "Sure, come on in. What do you want to talk about?"<br>"Well," said Hermione, "I want to go to Australia to see if I can find my parents. Ron invited himself to go along, since he doesn't think I should go that far on my own after what happened and because he wants to meet my parents. Do you want to come along?"

Without a moment's hesitation, Harry said "Sure" with an enthusiastic head nod. Then looking at the two of them sitting on the bed together added "I wouldn't be interrupting anything, would I?"  
>"W w what?" Hermione stuttered, embarrassed, not looking at Ron who had turned a shade of red to match his hair. "No! Of course not! Ron just said that he thought that you'd like to come along! Didn't you Ron?"<br>"Yeah I did."  
>"Oh, well then yeah, I would love to come."<p>

On the Monday of the following week, Harry and Ron each took hold of Hermione's arms and were pulled into the crushing darkness with her as she turned on the spot. When she had first put the memory charm on her parents, they couldn't figure out who she was, so she pretended that she was their realtor who was helping them to find a house in Australia. While she didn't know their exact address, she had an idea of what part of the country they were in. She knew that they were living somewhere in Sydney, fairly close to the beach. She was looking forward to the beach time that would come with that.

"Wow!" Ron exclaimed, looking around him as they walked into the city of Sydney, taking in the view. "And I thought Egypt was cool!"

"I hope mum and dad will want to leave here to come back to Britain with us… I know I wouldn't." Hermione sounded a bit nervous at the idea, but then said, more to herself than to them "Of course they'll want to come back! You're their only child, and they're going to want to be where you are! Besides, they have other family there too!"

"Well, know that we're here, do you have any idea how we're going to find your parents, Hermione?" Harry asked as he too took in the magnificent view.

"Well, I figured I could look on the internet."

When Ron looked confused, she said "Come into the library with me… muggle libraries usually have computers in them and it's easier for me to show you than to tell you."

So, they all walked into the library, where Hermione logged onto one of the computers, before clicking into the internet. Going to a search engine, she typed 'Wendell and Monika Wilkins, Sydney Australia' and clicked enter. After sorting through some of the results, she found an article that had been written about them about six months ago after they had won a "Best Yard" contest. The article gave an address of 1278 E. Darcy Lane. She wrote it down, logged out, and stood up. Ron stared at her open mouthed. "So you found out your parents address just by typing in their names and the city and country they lived in? That is wicked cool!"

"Welcome to the muggle world!" Hermione answered laughing. "Not as primitive as you thought is it? I have been trying to tell you that the whole time I've known you but did you ever listen? Nope."

Ron opened his mouth to argue, but Hermione grabbed his and Harry's hands, looking rather happy and pleased with herself, and pulled them out of the library. After stopping a man on the street to ask for directions, they set off down the streets of a suburban area.

"According to that man" Hermione said, "Darcy Lane is about three more blocks this way." A short time later, just as predicted, the came to Darcy Lane, where they turned and again began walking. They passed two houses before coming to 1278 E Darcy Lane.

Hermione started for the door, but stopped as Ron grabbed her hand and pulled her back. "Let me go Ronald! If you don't mind I would like to remove my parent's memory charm so that they can look at me and actually recognize their only daughter. So if you don't mind…" She said it rather icily, looking down at his hand holding hers.

"Will you relax for a minute? You need to think of a reason why you're there until you've removed the charm or they aren't even going to let you in the door."

"I have an idea." Harry said. "Why don't I give you the invisibility cloak, Hermione, and you can pull it on, and ring the door bell. When one of your parents comes to answer the door, you can remove their charm, and then take the cloak off. If one of them knows who you are, I'd be more than willing to bet that you're not going to have any trouble removing the other one."

"Ok. That sounds fine." Hermione answered, sounding rather relieved. "I'm sorry I snapped at you Ron. I just haven't seen my parents in so long… and I really didn't get to say a proper good bye, or I love you or anything. It was just 'Mum? Dad? Can I talk to you? Obliviate!' That was my good bye."

"I know." Ron answered, pulling her to him for a quick hug. "Get under the cloak, and do it already! Harry and I'll go hide. Good luck!"

Harry handed her the cloak, which she pulled on as the boys went to hide behind some cars parked across the street.

She took a deep breath and rang the door bell. Knowing that she would only have a few seconds from the time the door was opened until it was closed, she raised her wand. She heard footsteps, and the door was opened by her mum. "Ibliviate" Hermione whispered quickly, but with strength in the word. Her mum's eyes went out of focus, and then went back to normal. Hermione took another breath, and pulled off the cloak.

"Hermione! What are you doing here? You should be at school!" Her mum pulled her into a hug. She looked around for a moment, and then asked "Where am I? This isn't home… it's much too warm!"

"I know mum!" Hermione said, close to tears. "I promise I'll explain everything in a minute, but first I need to see dad, okay?"

"He's in here" her mum said, leading her into the kitchen. "Honey, look who's here?"

"Wh…" But before he had a chance to finish the word Hermione had again raised her wand and pointed it at her father saying "Ibliviate". After a few moments, he looked at her saying "Hermione? Why are you here?" He looked around. "Where am I?"

Hermione smiled, and then went over to give him a hug.

Breaking free, she ran over to the still open door and called out "Ron, Harry, come on in!"

She waited for them to come in, and then shut the door behind them.

With their help, she filled her parents in on all that they had done together over the past year. Her parents were rather shocked at the fact that they'd had their memory's modified for the past year, but got over it rather quickly, understanding that their daughter had done it for their safety. They were delighted to finally be able to meet Harry and Ron.

The sky grew dark as they sat talking in the living room. Finally Hermione's mother stood up saying "Well, I don't know what we're going to do next, but I'm going to bed. There are two guest bedrooms… Hermione can have one and you boys are welcome to have the other."

"Thanks, Mrs. Granger" Harry said, as he yawned tiredly. Then he and Ron retreated down the hall while Mrs. and Mr. Granger pulled Hermione into a long hug.

Ron awoke that night to yelling coming from Hermione's room across the hall from his and Harry's. He looked at Harry, who was still sound asleep, and then got out of bed. He pulled on a shirt, and ran over to Hermione's room. He opened the door. She lay on her bed, tossing and turning, shouting "No! Not him! Please! Not him!" Ron went over to her bed, and gently shook her. She woke up looking slightly confused, and then burst into tears. Ron sat down on the edge of the bed and put an arm around her. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"When Fred died in that explosion," she said tentatively "For a minute I thought that it was you that'd been hit. You had in my dream. It was awful. I sat there calling your name, looking into your eyes and there was nothing." She leaned her head on Ron's shoulder as he gently stroked her hair.

"I'm fine. It wasn't me that got hit! I'm right here! I'm not going anywhere, okay?"

"I know. I'm just being silly…"  
>"Trust me, your not. When I left you and Harry, I had those dreams about you all of the time. I was so afraid that something was going to happen to you…"<p>

Hermione wiped her eyes, and put her head back on Ron's shoulder, closing her eyes. Ron stayed with her until she fell asleep, and then tiptoed back to his and Harry's room. Until then, he hadn't really thought about how difficult this past year had been for Hermione. She'd saved them more times than he could count with her smarts. She needed a break… big time. Maybe he should convince her to stay in Australia for a couple weeks with her parents. And with that, he went back to sleep, knowing exactly what he was going to tell Hermione tomorrow.

Hermione woke early the next morning. She remained in her pajamas and went into the kitchen for some breakfast. She quietly made some toast, and was sitting at the kitchen table, lost in thought, when Ron walked in.

"Morning" he said, walking over to the table and sitting down in the chair across from hers.

"Hmm… oh, morning Ron."

"I was thinking last night, after I went back to bed, that you've had it pretty tough this past year. I mean, you dealt with the same amount of stress that Harry and I did, plus you had to think about cooking, and making sure that our camp sites were protected and stuff. I think you need a vacation. Why don't you stay here in Australia for a week or two with your parents before coming back to London? It could be two completely stress free weeks for you to spend with your parents. What do you think?"

"Ron, that sounds amazing! I do need a break. I've been so stressed out this past year; I'm surprised I haven't gotten sick from it. But, you and Harry both have to agree to stay, at least for a couple days. You two need a vacation just as much as I do… we saved the wizarding world together. If that doesn't deserve a vacation, I don't know what does."  
>"I'm good with that!" Ron said smiling. "I'm sure Harry will be too. But will your parents mind having us here?"<br>That question was answered for him when Hermione's mother entered the room. "That would be more that alright" she said smiling, as she crossed the room to kiss Hermione on the head. "You and Harry both. You kept Hermione safe this past year. I don't think we could ever repay that."  
>"Well, it was kind of the other way around, but thanks."<p>

Hermione filled her mother in on the plan, and then Harry when he came into the kitchen a few moments later.

"That sounds like a great idea, Hermione." Harry said, looking slightly excited. "You know, I've never been on a vacation before."

"Then you're lucky" Hermione's mother said. She laughed when they all gave her confused looks. "You're having your first one in one of the most beautiful places in the world!"

**Again, reviews are much appreciated!**


	4. Australia

**Here's the next chapter! Its not as long, but it was the only spot I could end on before going into chapter 5. Let me know what you think! What do you like? What don't you like? Suggestions? Review! **

Chapter Four

As promised, Harry and Ron decided to stay in Australia for a week. They first returned to London, and went to Gringotts to change their wizarding money for muggle money. Surprisingly, Gringotts was the place that Harry remembered from the first time he'd been inside of it, when he'd just turned eleven years old. He'd smiled as he remembered their break in and their escape on the dragon that lurked in the bank's depths.

Their money was quickly changed. Then he and Ron apparated back to Australia. The first order of business was to buy bathing suits so that they would be able to go to the beach.

Ron couldn't keep his eyes off of Hermione when she'd taken off her cover up the first time they'd been to the beach. Underneath it was a red two piece that fit her figure rather nicely. Fortunately, Hermione didn't notice Ron's gaping as she lay down on her towel to tan.

Finally, Ron tore his eyes away from Hermione and turned to Harry. "You getting in?" he asked, nodding his head at the crystal clear blue water.

"Yeah, I think I am."  
>"What about you Hermione? You coming?"<p>

"No, I think I'm going to stay here."

"Oh, I think you are!"

And with that, Ron scooped Hermione up, and ran into the water with her. Both were laughing the whole time. Although they didn't say anything about it, they both felt bolts of electricity flowing through them where bare skin touched bare skin.

The water was about waist high when Ron dropped Hermione into the water. He burst out laughing when Hermione popped up looking stern. Then she burst out laughing. Harry swam up next to them, and dunked them both. Hermione popped up again and laughed. "This is the happiest I've been in such a long time!"  
>"Me too!" both Harry and Ron answered.<p>

"Wait here for a minute" Hermione said, and then walked back to the beach. She grabbed her surf board and her camera from her towel. She was glad mum and dad had kept them, even though it didn't make any sense why they did. They'd told her when she'd found them in the basement that "It just felt right".

She gave the camera to a tourist standing on the beach, who followed her back to where Harry and Ron were standing. She came to stand between the two of them, waist deep in water, and put her arms around them. "Smile boys!" she said laughing. The tourist took the picture, and then gave her the camera back. Getting back into the water for the second time, she grabbed the surfboard that Ron had been holding onto and said "I wonder if I can still do it…"

"Do what?" Harry asked.

"Surf." Hermione answered. "Mum and Dad took me to Australia for a couple of weeks right before I started Hogwarts, and I spent a majority of the time learning how to surf."

And with that, she strapped on the ankle strap and started paddling out to where big waves were continually forming. Coming up to a small wave, she took a deep breath and then stood up on her board, letting the wave pull her board with it. She continued for a few seconds, and then fell off. She paddled back to another wave, and stood up again. This time, she managed to keep her balance, and rode the wave back to Harry and Ron. Ron was staring at her open mouthed. "That is so cool!" he said, sounding a little awe struck.

"And it's something you both are going to learn how to do before we leave!" They walked back to the shore to grab the extra surf boards, and then back into the ocean. Harry sat on one of the surf boards while Hermione taught Ron the basics of surfing. First she had him paddle out to a wave and ride it back on his stomach, and then had him do it standing up. He was a natural! Harry on the other hand, was not. He lost his balance while on the surfboard, whether he was on his stomach or attempting to stand up. He finally decided that he was just going to watch Hermione and Ron.

He sat watching them on the spare surfboard. He looked at his two best friends as they surfed together; wondering what was in store for their future.

As they walked home from the beach that night, a beaded necklace hanging in the window of a shop caught her eye. It was made of deep blue beads, with pure white beads scattered throughout it. In the middle was a silver heart shaped pendent. She gave Harry her surf board to hold, and then walked into the store, saying "I'll be right back. I want to look at something."

She asked the woman working at the counter the cost of the necklace, but then found out that it was beyond her budget, and bought a simple picture frame for the picture she'd had taken of her, Ron, and Harry instead.

Ron followed Hermione's eyes as she looked at the necklace. He noticed the glint in her eyes that told him she liked the necklace. He also noticed the look of disappointment in her eyes as she walked out with just the frame. He said nothing, though, and they continued back to Hermione's house.

As soon as they got back, Ron left the house again, saying that he'd forgotten something at the beach. He jogged back to the shop where the necklace had been, and walked inside.

"How much for the necklace in the window?" he asked, pulling out his wallet.

"One hundred dollars" she said. When Ron looked shocked by that price she added "That necklace was hand beaded, and that pendent is pure silver!"

That was nearly all of the spending money Ron had gotten changed, but he laid the amount down in front of the clerk. Hermione's birthday was in two days, and it would be totally worth it to see the look on her face.

He had the clerk wrap it for them, and then carefully put his purchase into his pocket.

**I hope you liked it! Again, Review!**


	5. Hermione's Birthday

Chapter 5

Two days later, on Hermione's birthday, her parents took them all out to dinner to celebrate. "You know, 18 is when we come of age in the muggle world" she said to Ron.

"I know. Isn't that just weird?" Ron answered fiddling nervously with his tie. His thoughts kept flitting back to the prettily wrapped package sitting in his jacket pocket. He was going to give it to her that night, while they were at dinner. He'd talked to Harry about what her present. Harry'd thought it was a brilliant idea. He had gotten her a charm bracelet, along with a surf board charm and a piano charm; he was also going to give it to her tonight.

He looked again at Hermione and thought to himself "She looks great!" And indeed, she did. She was wearing a light blue, knee length dress, with her hair flowing over her shoulders.

Later that night, he found himself sitting across from her at their table at the restaurant. They'd already eaten, and she was now opening gifts. She opened her parent's gift of a photograph album that had pictures of her and her family from her birth to the present. "We've been working on this since you were born to give to you on your eighteenth birthday, darling." Her mother said, smiling with tears in her eyes. "Happy birthday!" Hermione got up from the table and hugged both of her parents, wiping tears from her eyes. She thumbed through the book for a time, and then began to open Harry's present. "Ooh! Harry, this is beautiful! Thanks!"

"No problem" Harry replied grinning.

And then she began opening Ron's present. When she opened the jewelry box, she gasped in surprise. "Ron! How did you know?"

"I saw your eyes when you saw the necklace…" But before he had a chance to say anything else, she was hugging him, whispering "Thank you". When she broke away, she lifted her hair saying "help me put it on?" which Ron gladly did. When she turned around to look at him again, he said "Wow! That looks amazing!" She blushed, but said nothing else.

The group walked back to the house together, Hermione holding onto Ron's arm. They fell back away from her parents and Harry, who were talking in front of them.

"Have a good birthday?" Ron asked.

"The best" Hermione answered smiling. "Ron?" she asked, stopping. "This necklace… it was so expensive! That must have been all of the spending money you brought with you!"

Ron put his finger to her lips. "Don't worry about that. It was totally worth it to see your face when you opened it."

He slowly lowered his finger as she put her arms around his neck and whispered "thank you". And then she was kissing him and he was kissing her. Ron's arms were around her waist in an instant, pulling her closer, as he tried to remember why he hadn't kissed her long before the night of the battle; wondering why he thought this would be awkward when it seemed like the most natural and amazing thing in the world. They finally pulled away. Ron looked at her saying "We should probably get home. They're probably wondering where we are." Hermione nodded her consent. They grabbed hands, entwining their fingers, and set off towards the house together.

About a block away from Hermione's house, Ron stopped again saying "I'm not sure if your parents would approve of me doing this inside their house or not. So…" And he kissed her again. Hermione wrapped her arms around him, returning his kiss.

"You have no idea how long I've wanted that" Ron said smiling, leading her over to a bench, where they both sat.

"Oh, I think I do… I've wanted it for just as long." She tenderly moved a piece of hair from his face.

"So why did we never do that before?" Ron asked musing. "I've wanted to do that since about our fourth year!"

"I don't know… probably because you had a girlfriend by the time I was ready to admit it. For the record, I've liked you since our fourth year when I went to the Yule Ball with Victor Krum. You got all jealous… it's actually very cute." She laughed as his face went from happy, to jealous (at the thought of Victor Krum), to happy again. "But your right."

"About what?"  
>"What you said a minute ago… I have no clue how my parents would feel about this. They like you well enough, but I don't know how they would feel about us feeling well… more than just friends. Especially my dad. He used to tell me starting when I was six that any boys I liked had to be put through an interrogation before they could so much as lay a finger on me. Lucky for the boys I've gone out with, I've only dated inside the walls of Hogwarts. You on the other hand…"<p>

He looked thoroughly nervous at this thought, which she laughed at.  
>"We'll be fine. Maybe we should just wait to tell anybody besides Harry until we get back to school or something. We've spent almost four years afraid to tell each other how we really feel. I'm not going to let my dad scare you away!"<p>

He looked less nervous at the idea. They sat on the bench together for almost an hour, Hermione leaning against him, his arms wrapped around her.

They were sitting like that when Harry rounded the corner, calling their names. "There you two are! Hermione's mum was starting to think something had happened to you two… am I interrupting something?" he added, seeing them cozied up to one another.

One look from Ron told him that he was, so he said lightly "Well, you two should probably get back"  
>They stood up as Harry walked away from them. Hermione shivered, as she was only wearing a light dress with out a jacket. "Cold?" Ron asked, slipping off his jacket and pulling it over her shoulders.<p>

Thanks!" Hermione said as she slipped her arms into the sleeves. "We should probably get back. I wouldn't put it past Dad to call the police if we don't!"  
>"You're probably right" Ron said, although he thought he could have stayed on that bench all night with her.<p>

"Are we going to tell Harry? About us I mean."  
>"I suppose we're going to have to" said Ron, who was fairly bursting with happiness. He doubted he could have not told at least one person. "Heck" he thought as they walked back hand in hand "I'm going to have a hard time not telling the whole world!"<p>

They stopped at the door. "Happy birthday, Hermione" he said, and then pushed open the front door.

"So" Harry said, as Ron came into their room, and began getting ready for bed. "You and Hermione."

"Were we really that obvious?" Ron asked, hoping that he wasn't in danger of being interrogated by Hermione's dad.

"Kind of. I mean, I've been seeing one of you look at the other when their back was turned with that expression for the past like four years. I've just never seen you looking at each other that way. Do me a favor though?"  
>"Yeah, what?"<br>"Don't screw this up! Remember you and Lavender? She didn't talk to you for almost two months! It's a lot easier on all of us if the two of you are on speaking terms!"  
>"I think that's do able. Did you know she's liked me since the Yule Ball?" Ron was feeling fairly giddy.<p>

"Yeah" Harry admitted.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Ron looked fairly angry.

"Well, because by the time she finally admitted it, you were in a relationship with Lavender."  
>"Oh… well you still could have told me!"<p>

"Good night, Ron" Harry said, laughing, as he turned out the lights and rolled over.

Shortly after getting into bed with a book that night, Hermione heard a knock on the door. "Hermione?" she heard her mother's voice call. "Can I come in?"  
>"Yeah, come on it."<br>Her mother came and sat down on the edge of her bed. "Have a good birthday, darling?"  
>"One of the best. I think this is the first time I've had both friends and family together on my birthday… that made it extra special."<p>

"So," her mother began, looking slightly sly, "you and Ron?"  
>"How did you know?" Hermione asked, looking surprised.<p>

"Hermione, I have eyes. You look at him exactly like I used to look at your father when we were young."  
>"Well… what do you think?"<br>"I think he's wonderful. He really likes you, you know. I could see it in the way he looked at you from the first time I met him."

"Have you told Dad?" Hermione asked nervously, as a memory of him promising to interrogate any boy that looked at her popped into her head.

"He has eyes too" he mother said, laughing. "You two haven't exactly tried to hide that you have feelings for one another."

"Oh…"

"So to answer your question, your father does know."  
>"He's not going to try to interrogate Ron, is he?"<p>

"Hermione that was a joke to try to keep you from growing up and falling in love too fast. We wanted to have our baby girl to ourselves for as long as possible. But if it means that we have to give you up to see you truly happy with someone you love, then we would do it in a heartbeat. Just do us a favor, okay? Don't do anything stupid for love. It makes you do crazy things… some things you may come to regret."  
>"I won't. Mum, don't worry. I'll be fine. I'm not going to risk all of my options I'm going to have with one stupid move now."<br>"I know, honey."  
>And with that, Mrs. Granger kissed her only daughter, and exited the room, feeling an ache in her heart that comes with the knowledge that your baby is growing up.<p>

**Hope you liked it. Just for the record, I know that Hermione would have been at least 19, but I thought 18 worked better with the progression of the story line. Anyway, please, please, please review!**


	6. Last Day

**Sorry I haven't posted in a couple of days... I've been sick and loaded up with homework. This longer chapter should make up for it though :D Thanks to all those who've been reading! Keep reading and keep reviewing!  
><strong>

The next day was Harry and Ron's last day in Australia. The next morning they would apparate back to Grimmauld Place, where they would spend the remainder of the two months before the summer break at Hogwarts was over. They were walking to the beach, when suddenly they spotted a red haired girl coming through the crowd towards them. "Harry! Hermione! Ron!" the girl called. Harry was rather shocked to see Ginny coming closer and closer to them. He raced up to her. "What? How?"

"Hermione!" Ginny explained, giving him a quick kiss. "She wrote to me a couple days ago and said that I should come join you. I just passed my apparition test, so I decided that I would come down, at least for the day." She walked over to Hermione and Ron, giving them each a hug in turn.

"It's so good to see you all again!" Ginny said. "Mum was starting to get on my nerves… she's been a little clingy recently, which is understandable, but still. Just so you know, Ron, I've had to take all of the clinging that would have been yours because you're on vacation."

"Oh… Sorry!" Ron said sheepishly. "So, what's been going on at home since we left?"

"Not much. Bill and Fleur have been up to see us a couple of times, and Andromeda brought Teddy Lupin down for a visit two nights ago. That baby is so cute!"

They began walking again, and stopped a few minutes later as they reached the beach. Instead of getting into the water, however, they laid down their stuff, and continued walking. There was an old lighthouse located a short ways away from the beach, which they had all decided they wanted to see.

They hiked to the top of a rocky cliff where the lighthouse was located. Harry was reminded of the time that Uncle Vernon had made them all go to a lighthouse in the middle of the ocean to try to escape the letters. He laughed out loud.

"What's so funny?" Ron asked.

"Oh, do you remember me telling you that Hagrid had to come hunt me down to give me my letter to Hogwarts? Well, the letters somehow knew how to find us, so my uncle decided that we were going to go stay at this old lighthouse to try to give them the slip. It was out in the middle of the ocean. It was pretty amusing except for the fact the floor where I had to sleep was really cold!"

"That's horrible!" Ginny said, although she laughed along with Ron and Hermione.

"Trust me" Harry said to her "that was one of the best times I had with the Dursleys."

They sat up there, eating the picnic lunch Hermione's mum had provided, and enjoying the view.

"I think" Hermione began with a sigh, "that this is the happiest I've been in a long time. I mean, I'm surrounded by my best friends, with my family right down the street in one of the most beautiful places in the world! What more could I ask for?"  
>"You're totally right, Hermione" Harry said. "I can't exactly say the family part, but you guys are like my family… I couldn't ask for anything more. I'm perfectly happy!"<br>"I wonder what our lives will be like five years from now" Ron said as he stared at the ocean from the cliffs. "Are we ever going to see each other again after we get done with school?" Noticing the looks on the faces of the others he added "It's highly probable since we spend most of our time outside of school together anyway that we will at least write to each other every month…week…day." He started laughing. "Okay, that was a stupid question. Of course we're all still going to see each other. But what will our lives be like?"

"We should make this an annual thing" Ginny said. "Coming to Australia, I mean. We should come up to this spot once a year during the summer and have at least a picnic or something… as a way of staying in touch."

"That's a really good idea, Ginny" Hermione said. "Even if we still write, who knows where we'll be, or what we'll be doing."

"Well, I'm going to be in the Auror department" Harry said.

"Same with me" Ron replied. "What about you, Hermione?"  
>"I'd like to do something good in the world… maybe with working to get more rights for other magical creatures. I could take SPEW to a whole new level!"<p>

Ron rolled his eyes dramatically, earning him a slap on the arm from Hermione. "What?" Ron said, laughing. "That sounds completely… wonderful." He had a hard time making this statement because he was unable to control his laughter.

"What about you, Ginny?" Harry asked, changing the subject to prevent a fight.

"I don't know. Maybe writing for the Prophet? That would be kind of cool."

They lapsed into a content silence, happy just for the opportunity to be together, as their opportunities for this dwindled as each day passed.

Hermione finally sighed and stood up, saying "We should probably start heading down so we can have some time in the water before you three have to leave".

She began packing up the blanket she had been sitting on. They others stood and did the same. They each took one last look at the spot, and began heading down the trail that led back to the beach.

About half way down the trail Ginny accidentally stepped into a small hole, spraining her ankle. Harry caught her before she hit the ground asking "Are you okay" as he did so.

Ginny swore under her breath, and then said "I think it's just sprained. It's the same ankle I broke when we went into the ministry that time. It's been bad ever since."  
>"Here, let us help. We can have your mum heal it when we get home" Harry said as he and Ron helped support her the rest of the way down. They came back to their spots at the beach and set her down on one of the towels.<p>

Ginny pulled off her beach cover up, revealing her bathing suit underneath of it. "Harry? Help me get to the water, will you? It should help keep my ankle from swelling up." So they trooped into the water where they spent the rest of the day swimming and surfing.

When the sun had begun to set they walked back to Hermione's house so that Ron and Harry could grab their bags. "Thanks for having us, Mr. and Mrs. Granger" Harry said. "It was great to finally be able to meet you both."  
>"Yeah, thanks a lot!" Ron added.<p>

"Anytime, boys. It was a pleasure having you!"

Ron, Ginny, Harry and Hermione walked out to the fenced backyard. They had decided that this would be the best place to disapparate from, since it was closed in. Hermione hugged Harry and Ginny, and then turned to Ron. Harry and Ginny discreetly looked away.  
>"You know" Hermione said as she pulled Ron close for a hug, "I miss you already!"<br>"Same here!" Ron said softly. "Let us know when you're going to be back and whether or not you're going to want to stay with your parents or at Grimmauld Place."  
>"I can pretty much tell you I'm going to come back to Grimmauld Place" Hermione said grinning. "But I'll do that." Ron kissed her quickly and then said "Take care of yourself, Hermione."<br>"Only if you do the same. I don't feel like cutting my holiday short to come save you" Hermione said jokingly.

"Ready?" Harry asked as Ron and Hermione rejoined him and Ginny.

"Yep" Ron answered. He and Ginny each grabbed one of Harry's arms and with a tiny 'pop' they were gone.

Hermione sighed, feeling a little bit lonely already.


	7. Memories

**Hey! Thanks to all of the people who are reading and reviewing! Let me know what you think! Also, if you have any ideas that you don't mind sharing with me, I'll try to put them in. I have the end completly done, but I only have a few chapters left of the beginning part. And I've hit a bit of writers block on the middle section. Frustration. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything in this story that sounds familiar. That all is from the brain of JK Rowling... and Lady Antebellum. I wish I was as genius as them but I'm not... So...**

Chapter 7

With a tiny pop, Ron, Harry, and Ginny reappeared at the Burrow. They'd decided to go back there first so that Ginny could get her ankle fixed by Mrs. Weasley, and so that Ron could see his mother for a short time. They all walked into the kitchen together, where they were greeted by Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Bill, and Fleur. Fleur had found out she was pregnant two days after the battle, and from what the doctors said, she was about three to four months along.

"'Arry" she said throatily, coming over to hug him" "It iz so good to zee you!"

He helped Ron to deposit Ginny on a kitchen chair, where Mrs. Weasley looked at her ankle for a moment, and then healed it by saying "Kiniskay".

"Thanks mum!" Ginny said, and then went to hug her father.

"Ah! Ron! Harry! It's so good to see you again!" said Mrs. Weasley. She was looking better than she had after the funeral, but she still had a trace of sadness lurking behind her eyes. "Did you have a good holiday?"

"Yes, excellent!" Ron said, giving his mother a hug.

The seven of them sat around the kitchen table chatting until almost midnight. Harry stood up and yawned. "Ron, we should probably head back… home I guess it would be now."

"Why don't you two stay the night here?" Mrs. Weasley asked. "I know it's perfectly safe, but I've never liked the thought of anyone traveling at night. Then you wouldn't have to worry about unpacking until tomorrow."

"That sounds excellent, Mrs. Weasley. Thanks!"

So he and Ron trooped up to the bedroom that they'd shared almost every summer for the past seven years, collapsed on the camp cot that Harry had a feeling was a permanent addition to Ron's room, and feel asleep almost immediately.

They left shortly after breakfast the next morning telling them all "Come visit anytime. Especially you" Harry said quietly to Ginny, away from her mother's ears. "I went crazy not being able to see you when we were gone. I thought about you all the time!"

"Me too. It was weird… I could almost feel you thinking about me sometimes. Especially at night."

"I would take out the Marauders Map and watch your dot while I was on watch" Harry admitted. "It was the only way for me to know you were safe."

"That's kind of creepy!" Ginny said, smiling, "but sweet too." She kissed him goodbye, promising to come visit sometime next week. Then, he and Ron turned on the spot and were gone with a small 'pop'.

…

Hermione spent a good part of the remaining week she spent in Australia helping her parents pack for the trip home. They'd decided that they were going to keep this house as a vacation home, but they had to go through their possessions, deciding what they wanted to take home and what they wanted to stay there.

They went through the house, room by room, together deciding. When they reached the basement, Hermione was met by a flood of memories. Her parents had brought all of her old boxed up toys and books with them when they'd moved, although they couldn't figure out why.

"At any rate" her mother said happily "I'm glad I kept them. I can remember you talking about how you wanted to give this toy or that book to your kids. You'll still be able to do that!" Hermione walked over to one of the boxes labeled 'Toys' and opened it.

The first thing she pulled out was an old stuffed rabbit. "Look at this!" she gasped. "I used to take this thing EVERYWHERE!"

"I know" her father said laughing. "I remember one time we stayed at a motel when you were about three and we forgot to pack that rabbit up when we left. I had to drive back to the motel and get it so that you would sleep. You didn't stop crying from the moment you'd figured out we'd forgotten your rabbit until I walked in the door and put him in your arms!"

"I remember that!" Hermione's mother said. "I think after that we went and bought another one that looked just like him so that when we went on vacation you could have a spare. Of course, after we bought the spare, you didn't loose it again" she added wryly.

Hermione put the rabbit down on the floor, wanting to take it with her when she left, and started pulling other toys out of the box. She pulled out dolls she played with when she was seven, several stuffed animals, and two board games she remembered playing with her parents whenever the power was out. Each item came with a story from her parents. They spent the whole day down in the basement, reliving the days of the past. When they returned upstairs, Hermione had found a spare box and filled it with items she wanted to take with her back to Grimmauld place. In it was a book of fairy tales she'd read over and over as a child, the rabbit, a collection of piano music that she had played, several photographs of her and her parents and grandparents from when she was little, and a little tiny sports sweater with 'Granger' on the back of it. She'd almost cried when she'd found it. The sports team had been her dad's favorite team for practically forever, and he'd made a sweater for her to wear when she was two. She planned to make Ron read the book of fairy tales when she got back. He'd made fun of the fairy tales she'd grown up with, once upon a time before all of the problems started, so he was going to see how amazing they were.

Hermione sat upstairs in her room that night paging through photo albums her parents had brought with them. Her mum had said that they were in a box in the attic before Hermione'd put the spell on them and that they hadn't looked through the box. "We just stuffed it in the basement without a second look. We thought it was a box of old books that nobody wanted or something. I'm sure glad that I didn't throw them away!"

Hermione's parents were avid picture takers. They had pictures from her birth right up to shortly before her seventeenth birthday. She thumbed through pictures of her at her fifth birthday party, surrounded by her paternal grandparents, whom she had called Nonni and Bappi. "They died in a car accident about two months after this picture was taken" Hermione thought, wiping a tear away. They'd been on a trip to visit Bappi's family in Greece when they lost control of the car.

It always surprised people when she told people she had a set of Greek grandparents. She remembered Ron's reaction when she'd told him in their first year. "What? You're part Greek? But you look so English!" She'd laughed at that, and given him a lecture on genetics. She doubted he heard a word of it, but she'd been a big know it all back then.

But she wasn't the only child in that picture, though. She'd had a twin brother named Jamie, once. He had died when they were ten. He'd gone to the lake with a friend and had accidentally drowned. She remembered going to the hospital with her parents, and the doctors shaking their heads sadly.

He had died shortly before she got her Hogwarts letter. She'd always wanted to know if he would have been like her…. A wizard. Hermione was sure he would have been. Her first year at Hogwarts was a tough one. That was why she'd adopted the "know it all" persona. "Making friends with Ron and Harry was a little like having Jamie back" Hermione thought to herself. "He was so much like both of them. He would have liked them."

She could remember one time when some of the neighbor hood boys were picking on her, and Jamie told them to "get away from my sister or else!". Afterwards, when she'd thanked him, he brushed it off saying "I'm not going to let anything happen to my sister!"

Her brother was something she'd never told Ron or Harry about. The only person she'd confided in about her brother was Fred. She'd pulled him aside after George's funeral. She of all people knew how horrible it was to loose a twin. It was like loosing a part of you.

She magically copied the book, deciding to take it with her. It would give her strength in her uncertain future. She could feel Jamie smiling down at her, proud at what his sister had done. She'd felt him watching over her all of last year, just as he had when they were little. "I'm not going to let anything happen to my sister" she repeated to herself. "And you didn't Jamie. Look how happy I am now. The only thing that would make this any better would be your being here."

She wiped her tears, still thinking of Jamie, and turned out the lights.

…

She and her parents spent the rest of the week packing. They sent the boxes that they wanted to bring home ahead of them, and then caught a flight back to London on Friday morning. Thankfully her parents hadn't sold their house in London. She had stopped by it while they had been at Grimmauld Place, and it looked like no Death Eaters had been there. They arrived at their front door, with a truck filled with their possessions in the drive way. They went in, each with a couple of boxes in hand, setting them down on the living room floor.

The first place Hermione went was her old bedroom. It was just the way she remembered it. The room was painted blue, but you could barely see the walls under all of the pictures, posters, and awards she had pinned to them. A desk sat in one corner, opposite her bed, which was against the outside wall, next to the window. She remembered curling up in the rather large window sill on nights when she couldn't sleep and looking at the stars. The bed spread was white with blue polka dots covering it. The curtains hanging in the windows were a white gauzy material. On the other wall as a book shelf filled with books she'd read as a child.

She then walked into the room across the hall. Jamie's room. It was still the way it had looked when he'd died.

"Mum and dad couldn't bear to change it" she thought sadly.

His room was decorated with soccer stuff. A soccer field bedspread, a soccer ball knob, a soccer bean chair. But the item that always caught her eye was the picture of she and him hanging across from his bed. It was taken only a couple of weeks before he'd died. When her mum had taken the picture, he insisted that he have a copy to hang in his room.

Hermione walked over to the photo and carefully detached it from the wall. She wanted to take that with her too. She went to place it in her bag, which was still sitting in her room.

She walked back down the hall slowly, trailing her fingers along the walls as she went when she thought she heard Ron's voice. "Don't be silly. You've just been missing him. Ron's not really here". But she was soon proven wrong. When she walked back outside to grab some more boxes, she discovered Harry, Ron, and Ginny at the moving truck, each with a box in their hands. Hermione smiled broadly and went to join them. Grabbing another box, she led them inside.

"Hi!" she said brightly. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We decided to be neighborly and come help you move" Ron said.

"He's lying" Ginny said, smirking. "He misses you, and decided that we were all going to help you move in so that we can take you out for dinner later."

"That's great!" she said, and then added in a lower tone to Ron "I missed you too!"

They grabbed the few remaining boxes, and were soon unpacked. Her parents had left a lot of their belongings at the house before they moved to Australia, so it was mostly just the basics that they'd had to bring back. They finished unpacking a short time later; the four of them decided to go out to dinner in a small place down the street, leaving Hermione's mum and dad to enjoy a quiet dinner.

They settled into a booth with Ron next to Hermione and Harry next to Ginny. They placed their orders, and then settled into conversation.

"So what's new with you guys?" Hermione asked. She'd only been gone a week but felt like she'd been gone for eternity.

"It's really boring at Grimmauld Place without you" Ron said honestly.

"It's nice to know that I'm appreciated and missed" she said laughing.

"How was the rest of your vacation" Ron questioned, studying her face. "You're looking way better than you did before. The circles under your eyes are gone".

"It was a big trip down memory lane" Hermione answered. When the others looked confused she said "Mum and Dad had brought a lot of my old toys and books when they left for some reason. We must have spent two days in the basement going through the boxes. And each thing I pulled out had a story."

She told them about her rabbit.

"I used to have a teddy bear like that! I took it everywhere!" Ron laughed. "Until the twins turned it into a spider. That cured me of that habit really quickly."

They ate, and sat at their table talking, not leaving the restaurant until almost ten. Hermione went back to her house to grab her bags and a few boxes, and left with Ron and Harry, promising her parents that she would be by the next day to see them. She also made them promise to come visit her. "We have so much catching up to do!"

…

Arriving in the living room at Grimmauld Place, she set the boxes down on the coffee table and plopped down on the couch. Harry had went upstairs to bed, but she and Ron remained in the living room. "In one of those boxes, Ron, is a collection of fairy tales that I used to read as a kid. You are going to sit down and read them."

"Why?" Ron whined.

"Because you made fun of them. They really are amazing. There's even a bit of magic in them."

"Fine. I'll read them" Ron said grabbing the box, intent on finding the book. Finding something else in there he asked "Hey, Hermione? Can I look at this?"

By this time Hermione was absorbed in a book of her own. Absentmindedly she nodded her head saying "Go ahead" no bothering to see what it was.

The room was silent, and then Ron asked "Who's this boy in these pictures? Is he a cousin or something?"

Hermione got up to look and, seeing who it was, felt a lump grow in her throat. She sat down next to him and said quietly "That was my twin brother Jamie. He died when we were ten".

"Oh. I'm so sorry!"

"It's alright." Hermione said. "I don't really like to talk about him. It's too hard. I knew exactly how Fred felt at the funeral. Because I felt the same way when Jamie died". She wiped a tear off of her face.

Ron leaned over and pulled her into a hug. "That must have been hard. Why didn't you tell me and Harry about it, though?"

"It was hard. I found out I was going to Hogwarts only a couple weeks after he died. That's why I acted like such a know it all our first year. It was my way of dealing. I never told you… I really don't remember why. I couldn't talk about him for almost two years after it happened, and then it just kinda became a habit, I guess." She pulled away, and wiped her face with the back of her hand.

"Wait here" she said to Ron. She went into the hall where her purse was, and pulled out the photo she'd taken from his room. She showed it to Ron saying "This was taken a couple weeks before he died"

Ron looked at it for a minute, and then handed it back to her. "You two looked like you were really close".

"We were" she said. "We were inseparable. It kind of reminds me of how Fred and George were. I have no doubt that if he would have lived he would have been at Hogwarts with us. He would have really liked you and Harry." She smiled sadly, and picked up her album. Sitting back down next to Ron, she began going through it with him, telling about each picture, and the family that was in it.

They fell asleep on the couch together, Hermione's head on Ron's shoulder, the album falling between them. Softly playing on the radio was Hermione's favorite muggle song _Just a Kiss_ by Lady Antebellum. The last thing she heard before she fell asleep in Ron's arms was:

_Just a Kiss on the lips in the moonlight_

_Just a touch of that fire burning so bright_

_I don't wanna mess this thing up_

_I don't wanna go too far_

_Just a shot in the dark that you just might_

_Be the one I've been waiting for my whole life_

_So baby I'm all right with just a kiss goodnight_


	8. Plans

**Long chapter :D Hope you like it. It's a big filler chapter but I needed something to lead into some other stuff I have waiting. Please please review... I know you're reading, but reviews are appreciated to. I want to know how I'm doing, what you think, what you want in the story. Stuff like that. Keep reading!**

Chapter Eight

She awoke early the next morning but discovered that Ron was already awake. He was gazing at her, gently stroking her hand. "Were we down here all night?" she asked yawning.

"I think so" Ron answered. "I think we fell asleep going through your photo album." He picked up the album, waving it at her to show her the proof, and then set it on the table.

Hermione walked over to the radio, turning it on. It was on the same channel that it was last night. "Just a Kiss" was playing again. "This is one of my favorite songs!" Hermione told Ron. "I listen to this all the time! Every time I hear it on the radio I stop whatever I'm doing and start singing along with it. Jamie used to tell me all the time that this was the song I was going to dance to with a boyfriend one day…"

Ron strode over to her and held out his hand. She took it; she looked surprised when he took her waist and spun her around. She laughed happily and allowed him to twirl her around the room. They stood there in the living room, sunlight streaming in, dancing until Harry came in. They didn't notice his presence until he cleared his throat. Jumping apart quickly they both blushed. Harry raised his eyebrows questioningly but only said "Morning. Sleep all right?"

"Um… yeah" Ron answered looking at Hermione. "I'm hungry" he added nodding at his growling stomach. "Breakfast, anyone?"

They went into the kitchen together, following their noses. Kreacher, the house elf Harry had inherited from Sirius was hard at work. Sitting on the table was a pile of freshly made cinnamon rolls, still steaming slightly.

"Good morning Master Harry" Kreacher said in a low gravelly voice. It had been decided that Kreacher would come to Grimmauld Place while they were home for the summer. Hermione felt this wasn't completely right, but was glad not to have to worry about the cooking, and consented. She decided that she was going to have Mrs. Weasley give her some cooking lessons next time they went over to her house for dinner.

"So what are we going to do today?" Harry asked after they'd eaten their breakfast.

"I think we should start cleaning the place again." Hermione answered. Ron groaned.

"What?" Hermione asked.

"Hermione relax a little! We have all summer to clean!"

"Let's get one room cleaned and then we could go out and have fun" Harry settled.

"Hermione's right. Ever since Kreacher's been at Hogwarts this house has been a mess. I want to get some of the upstairs rooms cleaned too. Last time we really didn't worry about it, but since we're living here for the time being…"

"Fine" Ron answered still not completely thrilled. "But I'm not so much as looking at a spider."

They finished cleaning out the drawing room a couple hours later. As they were living there full term until school started they decided they may as well decorate. Hermione set out all of the pictures she had of the three of them, as well as all she had of them and Ginny. She stacked her photo albums in the bookcase too. Ron and Harry did the same with the photographs and relics that they had. By the time they were finished the drawing room looked like a completely different place.

"It's starting to look like a home" Harry said.

"What would you call it before?" Ron asked. "We lived here for almost three months last year!"

"A place to sleep" Harry answered. "We never knew when we were going to have to leave short notice, so we never really made this place ours."

"Harry has a point, Ron" Hermione said. "The one time when we were counting on coming back here we ended up on the run without much food."

"It feels really good. Having a real home, I mean" Harry said. "I never really had that with the Dursley's. Hogwarts is a home to me, but it's not mine."

That afternoon Ginny came bearing an invitation to dinner at the Burrow. "Please come!" she added after repeating what her mother had told her. "Mum really wants to see you all. Teddy Lupins going to be there too! You'll finally get to see your godson, Harry."

They heartily agreed to go and promised to be there by four.

They arrived at the Burrow a few short hours later. Hermione got straight to the point. "Mrs. Weasley, will you teach me how to cook?"

"My goodness dear, of course! Better yet, why don't I get those two boys you're living with to learn too?"

Hermione nodded her head and went to usher the boys into the kitchen. Ron complained rather loudly. "But why do I have to learn how to cook?"

"Because, young man, it's a skill you're going to need to learn sometime. And while you two are living under the same roof as Hermione and Kreacher you are helping with the cooking. Do you understand?"

The boys nodded. "Right then. Cooking isn't too difficult once you get the hang of it. I can't believe you haven't learned before Hermione!"

"Mum and Dad were always at work when I was home from school and mum usually had me pop something she'd already fixed into the stove for dinner."

"I can't believe I haven't taught you" Mrs. Weasley mused. "Oh well! No time like the present!"

And so they began their cooking lessons. By the time they were done they had learned how to prepare and cook meat, toast bread, and make an apple pie. They also left with cook book with several recipes marked. "Thanks a lot, Mrs. Weasley." Hermione said gratefully. "This should help a lot!"

By this time every one had arrived. Teddy Lupin, now four months old, arrived with his grandmother. She passed the baby around. Hermione picked him up gently and rocked him. He gurgled with delight and smiled. "Aww!" She said giggling. "He's adorable!"

She then passed the baby to Harry, who held his godson for the first time. "Would you believe that I've never held a baby before?" Harry asked.

"Harry, I would believe a lot of things you've said you've never done" Hermione answered.

She coughed lightly, trying to get rid of the tickle in the back of her throat. It had been there all afternoon. "I hope I'm not getting sick!" She thought. She didn't think she was, but she stayed away from the baby just in case.

The evening passed quickly full of laughter and happiness. Fred had brought Angelina Johnson with him, who, it turns out, he had been dating for the past six months. Bill and Fleur had come also, with Fleur's baby bump beginning to appear.

They went home that night at almost midnight where Hermione collapsed into bed, exhausted.

…

When she woke up the next morning she felt awful. Her head hurt, her whole body ached, she felt feverish, and her throat burned. She pulled on her bathrobe grab some aspirin from the medicine cabinet. She met Ron in the hallway. "You look horrible!" he exclaimed.

"I feel horrible" Hermione admitted.

"Go back to bed" he said. "I'll grab your aspirin."

"Thanks."

She suddenly turned very pale and gripped the molding on the wall, swaying as she did so. Ron was by her in an instant. "Here" he said, and grabbed her strongly around the waist and helped her sit down on the floor. Hermione sat on the floor breathing heavily as the room spun. Her ears rung loudly and she saw spots.

"Are you all right?" Ron asked sounding very worried.

"I'm fine" she whispered. Even to her own ears it didn't sound very convincing.

Once the spinning and ringing had receded slightly, she started to stand up. Ron hopped off the floor first and grabbed her around the waist and helped her to her room. She collapsed back on her bed. Ron left the room for a minute and came back in with her medicine and a glass of water. She took the pills with some difficulty as trying to swallow each pill felt like trying to swallow a grape whole as her throat was so swollen. She grimaced and then laid back down. Ron put a hand to her head and then said "You're burning!"

"It feels like it" Hermione mumbled, and then fell asleep.

Ron tiptoed out and closed the door. He had worried that the stress of all last year was going to get to her, "And now" he thought "it probably has".

Hermione awoke several hours later feeling no better, and was unable to eat any of the food that Ron had brought up to her. Feeling a bit worried he decided to go get her mother. She would know what to do better than he would.

He arrived at her house with a small pop a few minute later and knocked on the door. After explaining to Mrs. Granger what the situation was he tightly grasped her hand. Together they disappeared and reappeared in front of Grimmauld Place.

"My" Mrs. Granger said breathlessly.

"I know. It takes some getting used to" Ron said sympathetically. He gestured to the door and followed her in.

He took her up to Hermione's room. She went to her daughter and he left them quietly.

Mrs. Granger came down a short while later. "That doesn't look good at all!" she said. "I remember that when she was in primary school if a bug was going around she always caught it in it's worst form. But I've never seen her this sick. Ron, if she's looking worse tomorrow come get me, please. If she gets any worse I want her to go to the doctor for some tests. I don't think that this is any ordinary cold or virus."

"Sure thing" he answered. He took her home saying "I'll let you know how she's feeling tomorrow, whatever the situation" and then disappeared with a pop.

He went back to Hermione, having Kreacher bring up a bowl of soup. He helped her to eat some of it but stopped when she croaked "That's all I can eat. My throat hurts so bad it's like fire when I swallow that".

"I know" he said sympathetically rubbing her back. "Your mum said that if you were any worse tomorrow that she wanted to take you to the doctors for some tests." Hermione nodded and then closed her eyes. Ron studied her for a moment, noticing for the first time the dark circles under her eyes. "How long have those been there?" he wondered. But he brushed them off saying that it was because she was sick and left the room.

They checked on Hermione periodically throughout the rest of the day, but found her fast asleep.

The next morning Hermione was looking much, much worse. So Ron fetched her mother, and then helped them to apparate to the doctor's office. "I'll be waiting out here" he said reassuringly to them both before they disappeared into the doctor's office.

Hermione and her mother walked into her doctor's office. "Well Miss Granger, what seems to be the problem? You aren't looking all that great!"

"My head and body ache, I feel feverish, I have a cough, and my throat feels like it's on fire." Hermione managed to croak out.

"You don't sound that great either" Dr. Witherbilly said. "Let me take a look." He did so and promptly sent her to the lab for testing. When the results of the test came back it was found that she had mono.

They went to the pharmacy to pick up her antibiotics, and then went back into the waiting room to Ron. Mrs. Granger explained what the lab technician had diagnosed to Ron. "I think she should come home until she's better." Mrs. Granger said. "Mono is highly contagious. Neither you nor Harry want it. Trust me. I've had it. It's horrible."

"Alright" Ron agreed. "You and Mr. Granger would be able to take care of her better anyway."

"And it won't do any harm for you to come visit. You'd already be feeling symptoms if you had gotten it. But the prolonged exposure that you would get if you were taking care of her would probably get you sick."

"That's completely fine with me. Like I said before, she's going to get way better care from her parents than she would ever get with us."

He helped them apparate back to Hermione's house, and then went back to Grimmauld Place to get some clothes for Hermione. He also added in the picture of her and Jamie and the large book of fairy tales he had promised to read. Bringing the bag back to Hermione's house, he helped her mother get her situated in her room. Opening the bag he took out the picture and the book, setting them both on the nightstand where he was sure Hermione would see them. "Sleep well, Hermione" he said. "Feel better."

He kissed her head gently and then told her mother that he would come by tomorrow to see how she was.

Ron arrived back at home and went into the kitchen to find something for dinner. He was worried. He'd seen Hermione in bad shape before, but never that bad. Harry walked in, worry evident on his face too. "I'm worried about Hermione" he said to Ron.

"I know. Me too. I've never seen her this bad before".

"Her mum will take care of her. I wonder if St. Mungo's would have something to help cure what she has?"

"Nope. I already checked. They only have potions to prevent muggle diseases and to cure magical ones. They can't fix what Hermione has."

"You would think that they'd have figured out how to fix that by know".

"You would think".

And then the boys were silent, letting their own thoughts and worries consume them.

Hermione was feeling worse than ever. She faintly remembered Ron leaving her with her mother, but she could remember nothing else. She drifted in and out of sleep, feeling miserable whenever she moved or swallowed. Although she hadn't eaten in almost two days she didn't feel hungry. She doubted she could eat anyway.

She couldn't remember doing anything but sleeping while she was sick, but she could remember having horrible dreams. Ron was dead, Harry was dead, Mum and Dad were dead, Ron was dead again. It never failed; whenever she fell asleep something horrible happened to someone she loved.

Ron came faithfully everyday to check on her, sitting beside her bed for hours each day.

He thought about all that they had been through together, how things were seeming worse instead of better. While he sat with her he read over the book of Grimm brother's fairy tales Hermione had told him to read.

"She was right" he said tiredly as he finished a story two weeks later. "These stories aren't half bad." Hermione began to toss and turn, saying his name over and over again. "Ron… Ron… Ron…"

Ron leaned over to feel her forehead, which, like usual, was hot with fever. He took her hand and whispered "I'm right here, Hermione. I'm right here." She heard his voice and stirred. She opened her eyes and looked at Ron.

He pulled his chair closer to her bed and grabbed her hand. "How are you feeling?"

"Lousy" she answered. He was barely able to hear her. "Ron…"

He cut her off saying "don't try to talk. It's just going to make your throat worse." She nodded and closed her eyes again. He sat beside her until she fell asleep again before leaving.

By the next week Hermione was finally feeling better. She was still weak; she'd lost a lot of weight on account of not being able to eat, but other than that she felt pretty good.

Ron came by that day and was happy to see Hermione sitting up in bed reading the book of fairy tales he'd left there the day before when he'd visited.

"Feeling better?" he asked hopefully.

"Yes, much!" she answered in a voice Ron was able to hear for the first time in weeks.

"It's so good to hear your voice again. You had me starting to get worried" he said. Then he added "your mum said you could come back home whenever you felt like it. Just let us know when you want to, okay?"

"How about in two days?" she asked optimistically.

"As long as you're feeling up for it that sounds great!"

…

Two days later Ron came by, and finding Hermione waiting for him on the couch with her bags at her feet asked "Ready to go home?"

"Yes!"

She hugged her mother and father, who both warned her to be careful and to take it easy until she was feeling 100%.

"Can do!" Hermione said while Ron told them "Don't worry. Harry and I aren't going to let her do anything but relax and recover until she's completely better. We'll take care of her."

He picked up her bags and swung them over his shoulder. Grasping each other's hands tightly they spun on the spot and appeared with a pop at Grimmauld Place. Ron placed an arm protectively around her waist and helped her to the couch. The short journey between her parent's house and home must have taken a lot out of her because she remained on the couch for the rest of the day.

Ron brought her a bowl of soup, which she ate hungrily. Harry joined them in the living room and they spent the day in conversation. Hermione placed her head on Ron's chest and stretched out on the long couch. He wrapped an arm around her, and she snuggled in happily.

"It's good to have you back, Hermione" Harry said as he observed them. "This house feels empty without you in it…"

"It's good to know that I'm missed" Hermione replied. "Although I would have rather it not be because I was sick for almost a month."

"Well, we have the rest of the summer to make up for that" Ron said cheerfully. "Say, what are we going to do until school starts? We've still got nearly another month before we have to go back."

"I don't have a clue" Hermione said. "But I have a feeling that it's going to go quickly."

"Yeah, I know" Ron grumbled.

Hermione laughed, but then started coughing heavily. Ron helped her sit up, and rubbed her back as she succumbed to the coughing fit. When it finally stopped Harry asked worriedly "are you all right?"

"I'm fine. Mum says that that happens when you're getting over Mono."

Harry yawned and then said "Well, I'm going to bed. G'night." He trudged tiredly up the stairs to the room at the top of the stairs.

"Now that he's gone…" Ron said quietly "we need to talk."

"Why? What's wrong?" Hermione asked feeling her heart rate rise.

"It's nothing bad" Ron hastily assured her after seeing the look on her face. "It's just that we haven't been on a date yet. I mean, we were in Australia, and then you got sick. But now that we are both here and fine we need to find sometime when we can go out just the two of us. So how about dinner and a movie on Saturday?"

"Tomorrow's Saturday. Yes, but only if we can order in for food and rent a movie to watch. Curl up with something scary. And we can make Harry go out with Ginny or something."

"Sounds good to me" Ron answered, liking the plan more and more every minute.

"Well then, it sounds like we have a date" Hermione said playfully, and then slowly sat up. "I think I'm going to bed."

"Yeah, me too."

They walked up the stairs together, parting once they reached their separate doors.

"Good night" Hermione said, suddenly feeling rather shy as Ron stepped closer to her. He bent his head to hers and kissed her gently. "Good night, Hermione" he answered when he pulled away. He walked inside his room and closed the door.

Hermione prepared for bed and then laid down. But she was unable to sleep. She was super excited for her date with Ron, the man she's known since they were eleven, the man she'd spent almost all of last year in a tiny tent with, the man who'd been kissing her ever since the night of the Hogwarts battle. She'd known him for over half of her life. "Then why am I so nervous?" A small voice inside her head told her "because you really want it to work with him". She tried to ignore it, however, and rolled over. Sleep soon overtook her tired body. She sank into a dreamless sleep where she remained until morning.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey! Hope everyone enjoyed the last chapter. Thank you to the annonymous reviewer who pointed out what I like to call a Fred and George splice... I get what happened to each one mixed up- I say Fred looses an ear and George died. Probably because I like Fred more than I like George. Just sayin'. This chapter is Ron and Hermione's 1st date... how I think it should be. I've never actually been on a date before which means I don't have anything to go off of when I'm writing scenes like this one. If you think it's overly cheesy, please let me know. Please Please Please review! I love seeing that a new review has been added!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to 16 Candles. I just love the movie. Also, I don't own Harry Potter. If I did, Fred wouldn't have died. But he does, so I'm pretty sure the rights don't belong to me.**

Chapter 9

The next day Hermione went down to breakfast where she found only Harry sitting at the table. "Good. This should make things easy" she thought thinking of the plan she and Ron had formulated last night.

"So Harry. You and Ginny haven't been out in a while. Maybe you should take her out for dinner and a movie tonight or something."

"Yeah, we haven't been out in a while, have we?" Harry mused. "That sounds like a good idea, Hermione. You and Ron won't mind?"

"What? No! Why would we mind?"

"Alright then. I'm going to head over to the Burrow to make plans with Ginny. See if she wants to go out for dinner someplace and then go see a late movie."

"Okay then. See you later!"

Harry walked out of the kitchen as Ron walked in. As soon as Harry left Hermione beckoned him over. "I've already talked to him. He's going to go see if Ginny wants to go to dinner and a movie with him. And he knows nothing about our date. I would rather our first date be just us. Harry and Ginny are great, but I really don't want to double date with them right know."

"Sounds good to me. So what do we want to do for dinner?"

"Umm… let me think. Chinese?"

"Yum" Ron replied with a smile.

The day passed quickly. Ginny agreed to go to dinner and a movie with Harry in half a heartbeat.

Hermione walked up to her room to dress for her and Ron's evening. She'd decided on her white knee length skirt, a blue tank top with a cardigan over it, and a pair of heels. She pinned on some earrings, and then fastened the necklace that Ron had given her around her neck. Her hair she'd decided to pin up into a knot. Taking one last look in the mirror, she decided that she looked hot. The skirt accentuated her long legs, and the tank top brought out the shades of blue in her eyes. She walked downstairs at five thirty where Ron was waiting for her. He too had decided to dress up a little and was wearing a polo shirt with his jeans.

"You look nice!" He stood there and looked at her for a moment before saying "Er… the food just got here. Should we eat?

"Yes, lets." Hermione said, grabbing his hand. The waltzed into the kitchen together and fixed their plates. Sitting down at the long table Ron looked around for a minute and stated "Something's missing". He waved his wand and two candles appeared between him and Hermione. She giggled school girlishly as he said "There". They ate in awkward silence for a moment.

Finally, wanting to break the silence Hermione said "This is really good! I haven't had Chinese food in forever!"

"Me neither" Ron replied. "Mum never made it for us when we were kids either. And of course I loved it".

"I know! We never had it either because Jamie and Mum hated it!" And then they launched into a conversation about their likes and dislikes, finding out things they'd never known about each other in all of the time they'd been friends. Hermione discovered that Ron was a fairly good artist. "That explains why I was always having to finish or fix your homework" Hermione teased. "You were drawing in class and not paying attention!"

"Yeah" Ron admitted. "I haven't done it as much in the past couple of years, though. I kinda miss it".

"Then why don't you do it?"  
>"I honestly don't know! Haven't had the time, I guess."<p>

"Well, you should. I'd really like to see them."

"Maybe."

They finished their meal, and then took a walk to a video store a couple of blocks away. They picked out the scariest looking movie they could find and headed back home. Walking in the door Hermione said "I'm going to go change into something a little bit comfier before we start the movie, k?"

"Sounds good." Ron answered.

She jogged up the stairs where she changed into a pair of pajama bottoms and a spaghetti strap tank top, which she pulled an old ballet sweater over. Then she made her way back downstairs to where Ron was already sitting on the couch, remote in hand. She smiled and joined him on the couch.

The movie began with a murder fifty years ago coming back to haunt the present tenants of the house where the murder occurred. Thirty minutes in a man dressed in black jumped out at a woman in the movie causing Hermione to scream. She felt Ron's arms wrap around her, and she buried her head in his chest as the man jumped out at another woman. Underneath her fear, she was secretly thrilled. She'd dreamed of this moment for years. By the time the movie was over Hermione was shaking a little.

"That movie case wasn't kidding when it said 'scariest movie of the year'" Hermione said in a quiet voice.

"Oh, come on, it wasn't that bad!" Ron said mildly. "I've seen much worse".

"I get more scared than usual at these kinds of movies know that I know that ghosts do exist and will do mean and scary things to people." The man in black had turned out to be a ghost who wanted revenge for his death.

"Yeah, it happens, but it's really rare. Most are like Nearly Headless Nick."

"I know, but it's still creepy. Besides, that movie looked like it could have been filmed here!"

"It did didn't it!" Ron admitted. Looking at the clock on the mantle place they discovered that it was only nine o'clock.

"Why don't we put in another movie?" Ron asked.

"Sounds fine to me" Hermione answered "but what would we watch? Sirius didn't have much of a movie collection!"

"That's why I grabbed this when you weren't looking at the video place we went to" Ron said pulling out Sixteen Candles. "Have you seen it?"

"Are you kidding!" Hermione said enthusiastically. "That's one of my favorite movies! You really didn't know that?"

"Well, you might have mentioned that once… twice… all the time!"

"I knew it. Have you seen it?"

"Nope. Ginny was always trying to get me to watch it, but I never would. Don't tell her you got me to watch it".

"Well then, I must be pretty special. I'm getting you to watch a movie you're sister's been trying to get to you to watch for ages."

"Oh, you are. You are." Hermione smiled and kissed him. She had to laugh when he said "Totally worth it!"

They watched their movie, which had about five minutes left when Harry and Ginny walked in the door.

"Uh oh" Ron muttered under his breath, reaching for the remote to pause the movie. Ginny and Harry walked into the living room and found Hermione and Ron sitting in front of the TV with a movie on pause.

"What are you watching?" Ginny asked, noticing the pink shade of her brother's and Hermione's faces. Then she spotted the DVD case on the coffee table. "You're watching 16 candles Ron?"

"Maybe…" he answered.

"How did you do it Hermione? I've been trying to get him to watch that movie for"

"FOREVER" they answered together.

"Hermione's a special case" Ron said defensively. "There's no way I would ever watch that movie with you Ginny! With Hermione on the other hand…"

They all burst out laughing.

"Well, I should probably get going" Ginny said to them, walking towards the door. "I just wanted to come and see how Hermione was doing."

"I'll take you home" Harry said, sensing that Hermione and Ron wanted more time alone. A minute later they were gone.

Ron hit play, and the movie continued. When it ended five minutes later he said "That wasn't that bad."

"I knew you'd like it" Hermione answered. "It kind of reminds me of us".

"Huh?"

"Well Jake and Sam were both with the wrong people… well Sam wasn't but Jake was. And they realized that they both liked each other and had a happily ever after!"

"I guess…" Ron said, still not really seeing the connection. "Has anyone ever told you that you are a hopeless romantic?"

"Several" she said sarcastically. Then she switched subjects. "I must say, this has been one of the best dates of my life."

"One of the best? I thought it was the best!"

"There's one thing missing from the perfect date picture" Hermione answered quietly. She leaned forward and kissed him, exhilarating in the feel of the tingly feeling she got whenever she was with him. She pulled away too soon in Ron's opinion and said "Now it's been the best date ever".

"Oh, no you don't" Ron said as he pulled her back to him, picking up where Hermione had left off.

Just then the door to the house banged open. Ron and Hermione jumped apart quickly as Harry came walking in. "What's going on here?" he asked hesitantly. "I have the same feeling I had before… that I'm interrupting something."

"Well… um…" Hermione stuttered before she said "While you went to dinner and a movie with Ginny, Ron and I had date here… dinner and a movie."

"Oh! That's why you were so eager to get me out of the house, Hermione"

"No offense mate" Ron added quickly "but I really didn't want to double date with you and my sister tonight".

"I don't blame you" he replied earnestly.

"So how did your date go?" Hermione asked conversationally.

"Great! I haven't gotten to spend a lot of time with Ginny since last year. I would tell you more but I really don't think Ron wants to hear about my date with his sister".

"Totally right" Ron said looking relieved.

Hermione yawned tiredly and stood up. "I'm going to bed. It's been a long night."

"Me too" Ron said at once.

"Sounds good" Harry agreed. Harry led the three of them up the stairs, and continued up to his bedroom with a 'goodnight'. He left Ron and Hermione standing in the hallway together. "Let's try this one more time" Ron said with a smile, moving in front of Hermione and putting his smiling lips on hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he held her waist tightly.

They pulled away at the same moment, and Ron went into his bedroom saying "Night Mione. Sweet dreams" before closing the door.


	10. Diagon Alley

**Hi again! I don't have a lot to say today, but I did want to thank everyone who has been reading and reviewing. It makes my day so much better when I see the reviews you guys are submitting. Keep reading and keep reviewing!**

Chapter 10

The month remaining before school began started quickly. Suddenly it was a week before school was set to start. Ron, Harry, and Hermione found themselves in Diagon Alley along with Ginny. Since Harry had left a good portion of his school stuff back at the Dursleys house he had to purchase all new robes, a trunk, school essentials, such as quills and ink, as well as his new books. He also wanted to get another owl. He knew that nothing would be able to replace Hedwig, but he needed an owl for his mail. Hermione had also decided that an owl would be a wise purchase.

They stopped at Gringotts so that Hermione could exchange some of her muggle savings for wizarding money, and then they set off down the alley of shops.

Their first stop was at Flourish and Blotts. Having received their booklists the day before, the saw that they again needed a new Defense Against the Dark Arts book as well as advanced copies of Charms and Transfiguration books. As Harry didn't have any of his other books either he also had to purchase a Potions and Herbology book. They walked out of the crowded shop a short time later carrying brand new copies of _Complex Charms, An Advanced Guide to Transfiguration, Dark Arts and How We Can Protect Ourselves from Them, _and_ the Standard Book of Spells Grade 7._ Harry also had his other required books.

From there they split up. Harry and Ginny went off together to get the rest of Harry's supplies and the things that Ginny needed, while Ron and Hermione went off on their own to get their things.

"Shall we all meet at Eylops Owl Emporium in an hour?" Harry asked.

"Sounds good to me" Hermione and Ron answered. They walked off in separate directions. Ron grabbed Hermione's hand and entwined his fingers with hers. They received many a stare from fellow Hogwarts students. Lavender Brown, who thanks to Hermione had survived the attack from Fenrir Greyback with only several bad scars, shot them both looks of pure venom.

Hermione caught that look and whispered "Honestly. You would think she would have gotten over that by know."

"You would think" Ron agreed. "I got over it a long time ago. In fact, I don't even think I had to get over it. I was glad it was done."

"So was I" Hermione said dramatically. "I hated everyday that you went out with her. The first time I saw you kiss her I honestly didn't know how I was going to get through the next day, seeing you with her. My heart broke that day." She said it matter of factly, trying to cover up the emotions that had suddenly rose up inside of her. Ron, however, wasn't to be fooled.

"Hey, the past is the past, okay? I'm not with her anymore, and I wouldn't want to be even if I could. Because I'm with you, exactly where I want to be."

"Ron" Hermione said tenderly as he pushed a piece of hair from her face. He kissed her gently, and it seemed like the world had stopped spinning. How was it that one person could affect her the way Ron did? It was one question she new she would probably never fully answer.

He looked at her and then asked "Do you know how happy I am right now?"

"I think I do" she answered quietly. "Because I'm feeling the same way." He picked her up and spun her around, both laughing happily. Off to the side Ginny, unseen by them, took a picture with her camera before sneaking back inside the shop where Harry was purchasing his robes.

They finished their shopping quickly and went off to the ice cream shop down the street. Hermione purchased a large ice cream sundae and set it on the table between them, grabbing two spoons as she made her way back to their table in the small outside sitting area. They sat and ate their ice cream, talking about what they thought their final Hogwarts year would bring.

"This year is going to be a piece of cake" Hermione said confidently.

"Maybe for you… I'm fine in wand waving magic but not so much in Potions, and I need that to become an auror."

"You'll do fine" Hermione assured him. "Do you really think after all this time I'm going to let you fail potions? Besides, it shouldn't be too bad now that Snape's gone."

"No I didn't think you would let me fail. You're right. I'm going to do fine."

Just then Neville came up to them.

"Hey guys! What's up? Where's Harry?"

"Hey Neville!" Hermione said cheerfully. "He and Ginny are off getting their Hogwarts things".

"Oh. Mind if I join you?"

"Please do! Come sit!" Hermione pushed out a chair for Neville, and then pushed her and Ron's ice cream glass out of the way.

"What's been going on with you Neville?" Ron asked. They hadn't seen anyone from school since the end of last year.

"Oh, not much."

Ron gave him a look.

"I'm perfectly serious when I say that nothing has been going on. I've been stuck at home listening to my Gran tell me how I've finally lived up to the potential as my parent's son and how she's proud of me and how they would have been proud of…"

Just then Luna Lovegood walked by, and Neville suddenly stopped talking, turning a bright red color. Seeing Ron and Hermione sitting at the table, she stopped to talk.

"Hi Ron! Hi Hermione! Hi Neville!"

"Hi Luna!" Hermione answered brightly. "It's really good to see you! You're looking a lot better than the last time I saw you".

"It's because Daddy and I finally got to go on holiday to look for the Nabanuf… it's a rare plant that's suppose to bring the person who finds it eternal beauty."

"Luna, you do know that the Nabanuf is actually very poisonous, right?"

"No it's not! Besides, we didn't want it for ourselves. We want to find it to give it to permanently scarred people to help repair some of the damage."

"You don't need eternal beauty" Neville said under his breath. Ron happened to hear him though.

"What did you say Neville?" Luna asked dreamily.

"Wha? Oh, just that I think it's a good idea".

Hermione shot Neville a look that clearly said "Stop encouraging this!" but he ignored it.

Ron looked at his watch, and noticed that they had only a couple of minutes before they had to meet Harry and Ginny. "Well, sorry to say this, guys, but we have to meet Harry and my sister in a couple minutes. It was nice to see you, though."

"Yes! We're all at Grimmauld Place" Hermione added. "Feel free to stop by anytime! We miss seeing you guys!"

"Will do!" Neville agreed.

Ron and Hermione got up, but Neville stayed seated at the ice cream parlor. What surprised them the most was that Luna came to sit in Hermione's empty seat and began talking to Neville.

Ron and Hermione walked a little ways off before Ron said "That's certainly an… odd… match"

"I think they're cute!" Hermione replied. "They'd be perfect for each other!"

"They would be" Ron admitted. "Still, it's weird!"

They met Harry and Ginny, and then walked into the shop together. Hermione ended up picking out a reddish orange colored owl, while Harry chose another snowy white owl. "I might as well" he told them. "Everyone knew Hedwig… they're just going to get confused when someone gets a letter from me not from a white owl. Who I'd get letters from I don't know…"

"What are you going to call him, Harry?" Ron asked.

"I don't know. Maybe Sirius?"

"That would be a great name, Harry!" Hermione said. "I'm calling mine Ronil Wazzlby."

"What!" Ron sputtered. "Why?"

"Because he is the exact color of your hair. And because I always thought it was funny that that was the way your self correct quills spelled your name when the charm was wearing off. And I can't call him Ron… that would just be weird. So Ronil Wazzliby it is."

"I still don't like the name".

"Why is it that you automatically hate all of the animals that I own?"

"I don't hate them… Crookshanks tried to eat my rat. Besides, Ronil Wazzliby is starting to grow on me."

Hermione looked doubtful, but stopped talking as it was her turn at the counter. They finished making their purchases and slowly meandered their way to the Leaky Cauldron where they planned to eat before heading home.

Sitting down at the table Harry said "I have a question for you guys."

"What Harry?" Hermione and Ginny both asked.

"Do you think I should try to find the Dursleys? I've been thinking a lot about it and I'm in two minds about it. It's really been bugging me these past few weeks."

"So that's why you've been so quiet" Hermione mused. "Here's what I think, Harry. I think you should at least try to find them. They're the only biological family you have left. Maybe know that you're not living with them they might at least be civil to you."

"Go for it mate" Ron agreed nodding his head.

"Besides," Ginny added. "Didn't you say that your cousin didn't want to leave you behind when they left?"

"That's very true."

"And didn't you say that your aunt looked like she was going to say something to you right before you left, but then didn't? It might have been a heart felt apology or something." Ginny looked skeptical at this last part, but part of Harry knew that she might be right.

"Ok. I'll talk to Dedalus Diggle and see where they went after the Order stopped giving them protection. Who knows. By the end of all of this, I might be on good natured speaking terms with them, which would be a first." Then he added slowly, choosing his words carefully "But, I think I should do this alone. No offense or anything, but I don't think my aunt and uncle would take very well to seeing you".

"Harry, I don't think it could be any other way" Ron said laughing. "Do you remember the time we came to pick you up for the World Cup? I thought your uncle was going to have a heart attack when we came using Floo Powder!"

"Do you remember the time Ron tried calling you over break that year? Hermione added.

"Glad to see that no one's offended by this!" Harry said, looking slightly relieved. He looked at Ginny. "You're not, are you?"

"No. I agree 100% with Ron and Hermione. You need to try to fix your relationship with them Harry. They're the only family you have, whether you want to admit it or not. And us being there wouldn't be making your task any easier."

"Okay" Harry said. "I think I'm going to leave tomorrow to try to find my aunt and uncle, then. It shouldn't be too hard. Should it?"


	11. The Dursleys

**Hi again! Hope everyone has had a good first half of the week. I haven't... three big tests, plus the PSAT! Anyway, this chapter's a little bit shorter, but I'm proud of it nonetheless. I sucessfully created a conflict. A pretty good one... in my opinion. The words just flowed from my... keys :D Thanks to my readers and reviewers! Keep 'em coming!**

Chapter 11

Harry awoke early the next morning, dressed, and went downstairs to an empty kitchen. He ate a small breakfast and packed up some extra food to take with him. He'd contacted Dedalus Diggle last night, who'd told Harry that they'd went back to their old house after the danger was past.

"Are you sure?" Harry had asked. He'd wanted to be completely sure. He really didn't want to go searching all over the country for them.

"Quite sure, Mr. Potter." Dedalus had replied. "They were quite adamant about it. 'We've had enough MAGIC thank you very much' your uncle said, rather rudely if you don't mind me saying so. And then they left without so much as a good-bye or a thank you."

"That sounds like them all right" Harry had mumbled under his breath before thanking Dedalus, who bowed to him happily.

Harry apparated to behind the primary school he'd attended before attending Hogwarts. Staring at the school for a moment, he shuddered, thinking about how miserable he'd been while there. He'd been Dudley's favorite punching bag. Laughing, he thought back to the time when he'd somehow ended up on the roof of the kitchens when he was running from Dudley. "I had no clue how that'd happened" Harry thought to himself. "Of course, that was before I knew who I really was." Sighing, he walked the rest of the way to his old house, the house that was never a home to him. He began the long walk down Privet Drive, starting to doubt why he was making the walk in the first place.

Taking a deep breath, he rang the doorbell. He heard Aunt Petunia inside yelling for Uncle Vernon to open the door. The door opened, and Harry stood face to face with his uncle for the first time in a year.

"Y y y you!" His uncle sputtered and spat. "What do you want?" Harry saw a shadow approaching, and moments later his aunt was standing behind her husband.

They glared at Harry together, clearly not happy to see him. "What do you want?" Uncle Vernon asked again, his voice menacingly quiet.

"Well, as crazy as it sounds, I wanted to see if you all were all right. Which clearly you all are…"

"Is that all?" his aunt asked quietly, looking down at her impeccably clean doorstep.

"That's pretty much it" he replied. "Like it or not, and I'm leaning way towards the not side of this, believe me, you're the only family I have left, and I thought I would find you and make sure you weren't dead or permanently injured or something."

"Oh" Uncle Vernon spoke softly at first and grew louder and louder. "Thought you'd check up on us, would you? When you're the whole reason we had to leave in the first place! You were probably checking to see if the house was still empty so you and your freaky friends could move into it. I knew it! This was all a plot to get the house, Petunia. I told you so! Well, sorry to tell you, boy, but it didn't work. And you aren't coming back in here, oh no. You're out on the streets where we should have put you a long time ago. You've brought us nothing but problems since you were left here!" Petunia behind her husband nodded, but didn't look like she believed in what he was saying.

"Fine. I'll go then." Harry said angrily before saying in disbelief "A plot to get the house? Are you really that thick! How many times did I tell you that you had to move away so that you wouldn't end up the same way my parents did? And why the bloody hell would I want this house, of all houses, especially when I've got a house of my own? It sure the hell isn't because of all of the happy memories we had in it. Oh wait, that's right, there weren't any!" And with that, Harry stalked angrily down the street. He heard the Dursley's door close again, but a minute later, when Harry was halfway down the street it opened again.

"Harry!" he head someone yell. Turning around, he discovered Dudley running towards him, not as big as he'd been when Harry had last left him, but big none the less.

Panting slightly as he reached Harry, Dudley thrust out a letter saying "Here. As soon as you left Mum handed me this and told me to give it to you". Harry opened the letter, and shot Dudley a look that clearly said 'don't go anywhere' before reading the letter which read:

_Dear Harry,_

_I know that our relationship has been anything but great. How could it be when I treated you as coldly and harshly as I did for the seventeen years you lived in my house. But if you will let me take up but a moment of your time, I will do my best to explain why I did what I did._

_When my sister first received her Hogwarts letter, I was sure that there would be one for me. There wasn't. I wrote the headmaster begging him to take me too, that I, like my sister, was special. While his reply was truly very kind, he refused my request. I became very jealous of my sister and the attentions she received. Lily, in my parent's eyes, could do no wrong. In my youth, I felt as if she was the more important of the two of us, and my parents did nothing to assure me differently. As an adult, I felt she was always overshadowing me. When I announced my engagement to your uncle, she announced hers to your father a week later. Right after I had Dudley, she announced that she was pregnant with you. It was at that point that I cut off all contact with her. I knew that you would be just like them, and I didn't want my son to feel the same way I had both growing up and grown. Your uncle, upon learning what Lily and your father were grew very afraid of, forgive me for saying this, your kind. _

_When your parents were killed, and I found you on our doorstep, Vernon was set on sending you to the orphanage. But Professor Dumbledore had left me a letter. He told me of what your mother had done for you, and I suddenly felt a connection to my sister. She did for you exactly what I would have done for my son. I convinced Vernon that taking you in would be the best thing for us, that it would be a chance to eliminate the magic in our family. I knew that I would be wrong, but I new that it would be a way to keep you. I kept you because I knew my sister would have wanted it. As the years went on, and you first got your letters, I began feeling the same way I had with my sister. That was why I was so cold to you, especially when you turned fifteen and the troubles started. I was afraid that the same things that had happened to your mother and father would happen to me and my family if we acted as if we loved you, cared for you at all. I kept my distance, hoping to keep my family safe. It worked, but at a terrible price._

_I let you grow up without so much as hinting that I cared for you as a nephew, much less a son. For that, I hope you can forgive me. I have come to realize that I do care for you. You remind me so, so much of my sister, who I love with all of my heart, despite all that had happened to us. I do not think it wise for you to visit us, at least while your uncle is alive and well. I am sad to say that his feelings about you have not changed, and that he does dislike you quite a lot. But I would like to hear from you from time to time. Your mother wouldn't have wanted you to have to go out into the world alone when you have family still alive. I wish to honor that memory._

_Please forgive me for all that I have done to you._

_Aunt Petunia_

Harry turned to Dudley. "Tell you're mother that I understand, and that I'll write to her from time to time."

"Alright then" Dudley answered before lapsing into a rather awkward silence. "Will you… will you write to me? I know I haven't been the greatest cousin in the world, but I really am grateful for you saving my life and stuff."

"Can do, Dudley". He smiled at his cousin, before saying "Well, I should probably get going. See ya Dudley". And with that, Harry turned on the spot and disappeared


	12. An Announcement

**Sorry I didn't post yesterday. This week has been extremley busy and extremely sucky at the same time. So... Glad you guys like the Dursley/Harry reunion. I got some requests to know from one of the Dursleys what happened while they were in hiding, and I think it's great. I'm going to try to work it in somehow. Let me know what you think and any ideas you have about what you think happened.**

**This chapter is short, and relativly unimportant. But it will be worth it later. I promise! Keep reading and keep reviewing!**

Chapter 12

Hermione awoke the next morning, knowing that Harry was already gone to his aunt and uncle's. She hoped he found what he was looking for, whatever that might be. She got dressed and slowly walked down to the kitchen. Ron was already sitting at the table, reading the Daily Prophet and eating a bowl of cereal.

"Morning" Hermione said cheerfully as she reached for the cereal. "Is Harry already gone?"

"Yeah, I think so. He said he was going to leave early" Ron replied. He folded down the paper for Hermione to see and said in a disgusted tone "Look at this!"

It was an article with a picture of Mundungus Fletcher smiling shadily up at them. "Dung just got arrested for smuggling illegal goods in and out of the country".

"Ugh…" Hermione groaned disgustedly. "It's about time. I'm surprised they haven't gotten him before this. When's his trial?"

"The article says it already happened and that he got two months in Azkaban".

"Serves him right" Hermione grumbled. "Look at all of the problems he's caused us".

"I know" Ron answered. "If he hadn't came in here and looted the place we would have had one Horcrux found when we first started. We could have probably been staying in here instead of in the tent. But no. Because of him we had to go inside the Ministry and hunt down that old Hag and look where that landed us."

"Well, at least he got what he deserved." Hermione sighed and then asked "Do you know when all of the Death Eaters' trials are going to be? I haven't heard a word about them".

"I don't know. The prophet hasn't been reporting on them. I bet the ministry wants to keep them as quiet as possible… to give people a chance to recover from all that happened".

They sat in happy silence for five minutes, and then the kitchen door flew open and Harry walked in. "Harry? You're back already?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, here read this." He thrust the letter out at them which they read. He saw the look on Hermione's face change from happy to quite angry. "Harry that's awful!"

"Yeah, well it's better than the way she's treated me for the other seventeen years of my life. And it's way better than the way my uncle treated me when I showed up at the door. He basically told me to get out and to never come back".

"But at least you're on speaking terms with your aunt" Ron said trying to be enthusiastic.

"You were always saying to me and Hermione that you thought she was hiding something from you. You were right".

"I know. She wants me to write to her from time to time".

"Are you?" Hermione questioned.

"Maybe. Probably. She wants me to and she's the only biological family I have left. Besides, Dudley wants me to too. And I really want to know how it went when they were in hiding with the order. I forgot to ask. That's going to be a funny letter to read!"

"Well, as long as you're happy" Ron replied.

They heard a knock on the front door, and then heard it open. Ginny's voice called out "Hello? Anybody home? Where are you guys?"

"We're in the kitchen, Ginny" Hermione called back, and a moment later Ginny walked through the open kitchen door.

"Hi everyone" she said brightly, going over to Harry to give him a kiss. Ron looked away and rolled his eyes. "I wanted to see if Harry was back, which he obviously is, and see how it went with your aunt and uncle." He showed her the letter, and gave her the same run through that he'd given Ron and Hermione.

"Well, at least your relationship is better than it used to be" Ginny said with a sigh.

…

That night Mrs. Weasley invited them over for dinner. They walked into the house and were greeted by Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. "I'm so glad you're feeling better Hermione dear" Mrs. Weasley said clucking over her like a mother hen. "I thought you were looking a little sick last time you all were here. We were all so worried about you. You're so skinny! We'll have to fix that won't we?"

"Thanks for the concern, Mrs. Weasley. But really, I'm fine". Mrs. Weasley smiled at her, and then moved onto Ron and Harry, complaining that they didn't come to visit often enough and that it should be very clear to Ron that he and his friends were to come to see her and stay for dinner fairly often.

Also in attendance were George, who'd brought Angelina with him, Bill, a fairly pregnant looking Fleur, Percy, and Charlie. Percy had brought Audrey Cunderson- a black haired woman he worked with at the Ministry and had been dating for the past year and a half.

Ron walked over to hug Percy and Charlie, whom he hadn't seen since that spring. "Nice to see ya, Charlie" he said enthusiastically, while he said, still rather stiffly to Percy "you too Perc".

Percy walked pompously over to where Harry and Hermione were standing and extended his hand to Harry and then Hermione. "Good to see you both".

"Hey, Percy" Harry replied politely, while Hermione just nodded her head. Then they stood there in awkward silence for several minutes before Ron came over. "Come on. Mum says dinner's ready".

Since the kitchen wasn't big enough to hold them all, they trooped out to the garden where two long tables were pushed together. They were laden with food to the point where they looked ready to break under the weight. Sitting down, they looked up at Mrs. Weasley who had remained standing. "Is it all right if we pray before we eat? I know we don't normally do this, but this is the first time the whole family has been together for a meal in a long time. I'm feeling extra grateful today." As way of consent, the whole table joined hands and bowed their heads.

"Dear Lord," Mrs. Weasley began. "Thank you for this beautiful day, for the good company, and for this food you have bestowed upon us. Please watch over us, and please watch over Fred. Amen".

Although the prayer was short, it seemed to say everything.

Molly Weasley sat down, which signaled the others to begin loading up their plates from the serving bowls stations throughout the tables. "So what are your plans for the year?" Charley asked Hermione, Ron, and Harry. "Are you going to work or…"

"We're going back to Hogwarts for our final year" Hermione answered for the three of them. "We decided that it would be the best thing for us to do in the interests of our careers."

"And" Ron added, personally thinking his was the more important of the two reasons "It will be a good vacation". Charlie laughed.

"Probably the best reason why you should be doing it!"

Percy joined their conversation from halfway down the table. "If I may give my opinion…" he began rather pompously.

Ron rolled his eyes at Hermione who kicked him lightly under the table and gave him a look that told him to behave himself.

"You three are going to need to concentrate on your grades and level of academic performance. The ministry isn't going to take kindly to your dropping out for a year of your education, and you will need to excel in the next year for them to even consider you for ministry positions."

"Yeah Percy because we didn't get rid of their biggest problem for them. They're going to not give us a job because we dropped out of school to do that for them" Ron said dryly.

Percy took it with a smile, however. He was in an uncommonly good mood that day. He returned to the conversation he'd been having earlier with George, Angelina, and Audrey.

Charlie rolled his eyes at them and winked. "Some things never change" he whispered dramatically.

George stood up and cleared his throat. "Um, Angelina and I have an announcement that we would like to make." Everyone looked up at them expectantly. "We're getting married!" A great intake of breath was heard for mere seconds before shrieks of delight were heard, primarily emitted from Mrs. Weasley.

"Married? Oh that's wonderful! Congratulations!" she squealed as she rushed over and hugged her son and then his fiancé.

"Hold on!" George said with a laugh, helping Angelina to pry herself out of Mrs. Weasley's arms. "Someone else at this table has an announcement."

Percy stood up and smiled. "Audrey and I are getting married, too!"

"We've all talked about it" Angelina added happily, "And we've decided to have a double wedding- probably sometime in December or early January."

Mrs. Weasley shrieked with happiness as she pulled Percy into her arms before doing the same with Audrey.

"Wow!" Ron said to George. "Congratulations! Who'd have ever known… you and Angelina!"

"Yes, Congrats you guys!" Harry added. "Although looking back at all those years of Quidditch practices with you two, I never would have guessed that you would end up getting married!"

George wound an arm around Angelina's waist and kissed her before saying to Harry "No, you never would have guessed that I've liked her since about our second year and I just never got up the courage to ask her out. And then Fred seemed interested in her too, so I backed off. After they broke it off he told me that he knew I liked her and that I should go for it. So I did!"

"Well, congrats" Harry said again. "You two of all people deserve to be happy."


	13. The Train

**Sorry I haven't been posting as regularly as I have been. I didn't get home until two in the morning last nighth- I went to a theme park that they turn into a big haunted house during October last night and was thoroughly scared. Anyway, here's another chapter. I couldn't think of anything else for them to do over break, so I decided it was time for Hogwarts. **

**I have a kind of random question: What character from the whole Harry Potter series is your least favorite? And please do not say Voldemort or a Death Eater or Umbridge unless you have a legitament reason. I might try to incoorperate them somehow into the story. **

**Anyway, keep reading and keep reviewing :D**

Chapter 13

They finished their remaining week before school started relatively silently. Ginny came over to hang out, as well as Neville and Luna. The week passed quickly, and before they knew it, they were packing up their trucks for their return to Hogwarts.

As usual, Hermione had been telling the boys not to leave all of their packing for the last minute. As usual, they didn't listen to her. So, like usual, she sat downstairs in the living room with a magazine, occasionally glancing at the clock, as they finished their last minute packing. They had decided to meet Mrs. Weasley and Ginny at the station, rather than going to the Burrow for the last days of vacation.

Finally, about twenty minutes before the Hogwarts Express was set to leave, the boys came down lugging their heavy trunks. "Ready?" Hermione asked. When they nodded their heads yes, they each grabbed their trunks tightly and disappeared with a pop.

They reappeared seconds later; the first thing they noticed was the scarlet steam engine that was the Hogwarts Express.

"It's good to see that some things never change" Ron mumbled to Hermione as he helped her lug her trunk on board. They found an empty compartment, and then got off the train to say goodbye to Mrs. Weasley and to find Ginny.

After saying their good byes the now foursome made their way back to their compartment where they were soon joined by Neville, and a little later, Luna.

"Hi everyone!" Luna said in her usual dreamy tone. "Did you have a nice rest of your summer?"

"Yeah" Ron answered. "It was great!"

"How did you guys spend you summer?" Neville inquired. "I was at home with Gran the whole time."

So they filled him in on their trips to Australia, Hermione's being sick, and Harry's confrontation with his aunt and uncle.

"I think you did the right thing. Harry" Luna said after they'd finished telling. "At least you tried. Maybe in time your uncle will come around. He sounds like he stood under mistletoe infested with Nargles for too long. They do that to people you know… make them angry and bitter, I mean."

Harry laughed but stopped when she looked slightly hurt. "Umm… I really don't think my uncle is going to come around Luna."

"You never know" she replied.

She'd opened her mouth, probably to tell them about something that would fix Uncle Vernon's nargle infested brain when the door to their compartment opened.

Draco Malfoy walked in, although he was no longer acting like he owned the place. Ron smirked. "Shouldn't you be in prison or something?"

"They decided that I'd been forced into doing what I'd done and let me go."

'What is this world coming to?" Ron sighed before asking "what do you want?"

"To thank you. You know, for saving my life."

Well" Harry began, a touch of the usual hostility he felt towards Malfoy coloring his tone "You've said your piece. Now get out."

"Yeah" Ron warned looking at Malfoy menacingly.

"Ron, behave" Hermione whispered warningly from where she was sitting next to him.

"Yes, listen to the Mudblood Weasel King." Ron leapt out of his seat angrily, a fist forming.

"Ron, don't. Don't!" Hermione whispered frantically. "It's not worth it". She pulled him back down in the seat.

"Smart move Weasel King. It wouldn't do to get detention on our first day, know would it?"

And with that, he walked out with a hint of his usual swagger returning.

"I've had just about enough of him" Ron mumbled.

"I have too" Harry agreed. They started to get up out of their seats but Hermione and Ginny said warningly "Boys… sit. Now" and pulled them back into their seats.

"What?" Harry asked. Ginny just looked at him.

"You know what" she muttered.

Luna, oblivious to all that had just happened stood up and said "I'm hungry. Snack car anyone?"

Neville, to no one's surprise stood up and exited the car with her.

"Now that they're gone" Ginny began "we are going to have a little talk, boys."

"We have had enough problems this past year. You two don't need to be causing anymore" Hermione added.

"That means NO FIGHTING WITH MALFOY!" they said in unison.

"No provoking, threatening, hitting, or anything else that's going to get you in detention. He feels sorry for what he's done and he's trying to get his life to go back to normal" Hermione said sternly.

"But what if he insults one of you two?" Ron whined. "I'm not just going to stand there and let him insult my girlfriend or my sister to my face."

"Ron" Ginny stated earnestly. "You will not hit him if he does. You will come and tell us and if we are mad about it, we will find him and hit him. We don't have the record that you two do. And we are perfectly capable of handling him ourselves. We don't always need you two defending us."

"Behave yourselves! Promise?" Hermione asked raising her eyebrows at both of the boys. They looked sheepish and nodded.

The girls looked satisfied and stated so with a "good".

"Did you hear what Luna said about my uncle and the 'nargle investation'?" Harry asked. "That was great. She certainly marches to the beat of her own drum. And my uncle is so into normalcy- he would probably have a heart attack just at the thought of a nargle! Could you imagine the two of them in the same room?"

"Forget about marching to the beat of her own drum, mate. Luna marches to the beat of her own orchestra! All well. It takes all kinds of people to make the world go 'round" Ron replied, to a host of laughter.

Just then Neville and Luna came back and sat down.

"Say, does anybody know who's been selected as Headmaster?" Harry asked. The thought had just appeared in his head. "They haven't announced it yet or anything".

"I think it's Professor McGonagall" Neville answered. "I heard Gran talking about it with her a couple weeks ago. They've been pretty good friends for a while… especially with the Order".

"I guess that means that we have a new Transfiguration teacher then" Hermione sighed. "And a new Defense Against the Darks Arts teacher as well. Again".

"Hopefully this one will stay for a while." Ron said hopefully. "Wasn't the job cursed because of Voldemort?"

"Do you think that most of the staff would have stayed on?" Ginny asked. "I wouldn't think that they would leave, but most of them are getting on in their years. They aren't young anymore. After that battle last year, maybe they decided it would be a good time to retire!"

"I don't think they would" Neville answered. "I think they would time it so that only one of them would leave a year."

"Neville has a point" Luna said absentmindedly. "I wouldn't think that they would want to make Professor McGonagall's job any harder than it already is at the moment."

They spent the rest of their two hours on the train discussing possible people that could be filling the staff changes.

As it began to get dark, Hermione looked at the window and said "We'd better hurry up and get changed! I can already see the castle in the distance!"

So they pulled their robes out of their trunks and pulled them on over their muggle clothes. They finished just as the train pulled up into the train station at Hogsmede. The girls gathered up their hand bags, and then the six of them left the train together.


	14. The Start of Term Feast

**I feel horrible about not posting a chapter for THREE WHOLE DAYS! I've been uber busy... classes are really kicking up. I'll try not to let it happen again. **

**I wanted to address a question I had in a review: Why is Hermione being nice to Malfoy? I decided (based on the 19 years later written by the fabulous JK Rowling, and what I thought would work with the story) that Hermione would want everyone's lives to go back to normal, and that includes Malfoy. Also, in that review there was something about Malfoy trying to poison Ron... Draco was being forced to try to kill Dumbledore, and Ron was accidentally given poison meant for Dumbledore. Just wanted to clear that up.**

**Sorry this is kind of short and mainly a filler... I'm have a bunch of parts for the middle written, I just need to connect them. This is one of the connector pieces. Keep reading and keep reviewing! I should have another part posted tomorrow like normal.**

_(I just changed the discription of one of the professors for a later chapter- as of Dec. 20) _

Chapter 14

They were greeted by the all to familiar sound of Hagrid calling "Firs' years! Ove' here".

Noticing Harry, Ron, and Hermione he nodded to them. "Al' righ' you three?"

"Hey Hagrid!" they greeted cheerfully before going to grab a carriage. Harry wasn't the only person know able to see the thestrals. Every one of them was able to see them. They were somber and quiet as they rode up to the school.

Despite all of the damage the school had had, it looked like the same old Hogwarts. Harry voiced this opinion, but was silent again. As they walked into the entrance hall, they all stopped in front of a huge memorial dedicated to those who had died in the second wizarding war.

Under a small picture of each of the people who'd died was their name, as well as a that person's favorite quote. At the bottom, after all the names were listed was an engraving. "May the message of the names here never be forgotten. Rest in peace". Ron gently ran his fingers over the name of his brother, a tear making its way down his cheek. Hermione gently placed a hand on his shoulder.

After a moment, he turned around and pulled Hermione into his arms.

"I can still see it" Hermione whispered, finding solace in the comfort of Ron's arms. "I can still see the castle in pieces, people lying on the floor while others fight around them, families crying together afterwards…"

"I can too. I can still see Fred lying there. In the same spot where the memorial is. I can still feel the fear that I felt then, knowing that my brother was gone…"

They weren't the only ones having a moment in the hall. Ginny was sobbing in Harry's arms, and Luna in Neville's. Scattered about the room were about twenty other groups, who were in the painful process of remembering.

Professor McGonagall came into the room and cleared her throat. "Would you all take your seats, please? The sorting ceremony is about to begin."

The people loitering in the hall quickly moved to the Great Hall and sat down just as a batch of first years came into the room, gawking in awe at the size of it.

Professor Flitwick placed the sorting hat on the stool and unrolled a large script of parchment.

"ABERTHOL, MELANIE" was called and a timid looking blond girl walked to the stool and jammed the hat onto her head. After a few moments of deliberation the sorting hat shouted out "RAVENCLAW!"

The Ravenclaw table cheered loudly as they were joined by their newest member.

"BENTLY, EVANGELINE" became the first Hufflepuff, and "DUMPSON, THOMAS" became the first Slytherin. The first Gryffindor was "BURRIS, TAYLOR".

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the rest of their table stood and cheered as the tawny haired boy trooped up to the table, looking slightly relieved. Whether it was because he was put into the house traditional to his family, or just that the sorting was over, Hermione didn't know.

As there were only about forty first years, the sorting was finished rather quickly.

McGonagall stood to say a few words.

"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts. I hope that your year will be a pleasant one. Before we begin the feast, I would like to inform any new students, and remind all of our old ones that the Forbidden Forest is out of bounds to all students. I would also like to inform you that Mr. Filch has a new and improved list of banned items. This can be checked at his office on the fifth floor. Finally, I would like to introduce you to our newest additions to our teaching staff, who kindly took the positions with very short notice. Filling the post of Transfiguration is Professor Warwick."

As the students clapped in welcome, a slightly pudgy man with blond hair who looked to be about forty stood and waved nervously. "There's something about him… I don't like him" Hermione thought. "I've just got a feeling."

He sat down as Professor McGonagall turned to a short witch with bobbed blond hair, wearing navy blue robes. She looked to have a very bubbly, likable personality. "Taking over the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts is Professor Estlington. I am sure you will all do your best to make these teachers feel welcome, and will strive to do your best in their classes. And now, dig in."

She clapped her hands, and food appeared at each of the tables. The house elves had really outdone themselves this year. The table was heaped full of food, in a larger amount than usual. And the group sitting at Gryffindor Table didn't mind in the least.

The boys began shoving food into their mouths in the usual manner, a manner that was disgusting to both Hermione and Ginny.

"How can you be hungry?' Hermione asked Ron in disbelief. "We ate on the train not even two hours ago!"

"Not punching Malfoy took away a lot of my energy" Ron replied, only half joking.

Hermione rolled her eyes, and began to fill her own plate. It was going to be so nice to be able to eat food that she didn't have to cook.

She thought of the cooking lessons Mrs. Weasley had continued giving her and Ron over the remainder of the summer. By the end of the summer they'd been able to cook a meal for the entire Weasley clan. Of course it took all day to do it, but it was totally worth it.

"You look very pensive" Ron said, interrupting her thoughts. "What are you thinking about?"

"Cooking lessons" Hermione answered honestly. Everyone who'd been listening in burst out laughing.

"You were that deep in thought over cooking?" Ron said smirking. "We need to get you out a little more often Mione!"

By a half an hour later, the clinking of forks had gradually came to a stop. McGonagall stood and waited for the room to quiet.

"Now that we are all fed" she said "I have a few more announcements to make. First of all: I would like to introduce you to your new head boy and girl: Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger."

A collective gasp was heard throughout the hall. Around Hermione and Ron there was a loud chorus of "Ron?"

"Blimey, you do realize that George is never going to let you hear the end of this, right?" Ginny said, patting her brother on the back. "I don't know if I will either!"

McGonagall began to speak again. "Anybody with any questions about the runnings of Hogwarts, please see your head boy and girl. They have the power to take away and give house points, as well as give detentions. I expect that they will be treated with respect.

"Also, anyone wishing to join their house Quidditch team must sign up on the sheets posted in the common rooms. Tryouts will be held at the captain's disgression.

"Finally: a few words and reminders about the war that occurred here last year. You will notice that a monument has been erected in honor of those who fought and died upholding what they believed in. Anyone, and I mean ANYONE caught being disrespectful to the monument or to the memories of those who died will be expelled without a second thought. Is that understood?"

The students solemnly nodded their heads.

"As many of you may know, this castle took on a great amount of damage in the battle. While it has mostly been repaired, there are some things that are slightly different. The most important one of these is that the charm put upon their girl's dormitories to prevent male entrance hasn't been replaced. We have decided that, as it is the 21st century, boys and girls should be trusted to be in the personal space of the opposite sex. Do not make us loose this trust and place the charm on the dorms again. Also, as the portraits are still quite skittish, please do your best not to disturb or insult them. That is all. Prefects, please escort the first years to your dormitories. I hope that we will have an amazing year."

And with a little wave of her hand, she dismissed the students. Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Ginny got up from the table and trooped up to Gryffindor Common Room.


	15. In the Common Room

**Hi! Here's another chapter. I'm kind of in a panic mode because I only have a chapters worth of material left that I already have written. Which means I need to crank a bunch of material out this weekend and I'm not going to have a lot of time to do that. So if I stop posting as regularly and often as I have been, sorry in advance. I do have some more ideas, though, so once I get writing, things should come fairly quickly. Another filler and it's pretty short, but I put some stuff in that's going to pop up a little bit later.**

**Keep reading and keep reviewing!**

Chapter 15

"Password?" The Fat Lady sang.

"Trumbleroots" Hermione answered confidently. The portrait smiled at her and swung forward to let them in. "Welcome back, dears."

"Prefect told me" she replied to their unasked question. She plopped down on their favorite sofa, near the fire. Ron sat down next to her, while Ginny sat in the armchair next to them with Harry on the floor next to her. They were soon joined by Seamus, Dean, and Neville.

"Hiya Harry" Seamus said conversationally, his Irish brogue even thicker than it had been in previous years. "Have a nice summer?"

"Yeah, all right. How about you?"

"Not bad myself. What's new with you Ron?"

Ron blushed, and Hermione snuggled into him, answering Seamus' question.

"Finally!" he exclaimed loudly. "It was only a matter of time… as long as you two could stop fighting long enough to say what you really felt for each other."

"Thanks Seamus" Ron said weakly. "What about you? Any women in your life?"

"Actually, yeah! I met a girl over the summer. Her name's Abigail. Goes to Beauxbatons, but she's transferring to Hogwarts next week. She wants to be a little bit closer to yours truly!"

"Lucky man!" Dean cried enthusiastically. "Why is it that you always get the good girls? Beauxbatons too… Damn!"

"Well, what's she like?" Neville asked curiously.

"She has longish dark brown hair with bright blue eyes. She's really smart too. And nice. And caring. And…"

"I think I get what you're saying, Seamus" Dean laughed. "You mean she's perfect."

"Yeah, basically." They all laughed.

"And Harry… you and Ginny…" Dean again, although not as enthusiastically.

"Yeah" Harry said, looking up at Ginny. "I only ended it with her in the first place to keep her safe. What about you, Dean? Are you with anyone?"  
>"No" he replied glumly. "I've fancied Parvarti since we started school but I can't work up the guts to ask her out. But never mind me and my girl problems. We're forgetting about Neville, who, in my eyes, has made it excruciatingly clear that he's in love with Luna Lovegood. Anyone else have anything to say on that matter?"<p>

"Hear hear!" Seamus said. "My man Neville finally has himself a girl… or will have eventually at least!"

"Maybe…" Neville said cautiously. "I haven't asked her out or anything. I don't know what I want to do… I don't want to screw up out friendship…"

"You'll do the right thing, Neville" Hermione said. Then she yawned and stood up. "I'm going to bed. Goodnight!"

"Night Hermione" Seamus, Dean, Neville Harry and Ginny all said mechanically.

Hermione kissed Ron good night, which was met with wolf whistles and claps from everyone except for Ginny.

"What!" Hermione said exasperatedly as she smacked Harry across the head playfully. "He's my boyfriend for God's sake!" She marched up the stairs, and entered the dormitory she called home nine months of the year.

She was rather shocked to see Pavarti sitting in a chair in front of the mirror. "Hi!" Hermione said cheerfully. "I didn't think you were coming back for another year."

"I wasn't, but my mum thought that it would be a good idea since I spent a majority of the year hiding in the room of requirement…"

"Got it! So… where's your sister? Is she back too?"

"No. She had a job lined up already… in India. She works in the Department of International Magical Cooperation."

"That's great! Tell her congratulations for me!"

"I will. This year is going to be so boring without her though" Parvarti said, rather glumly.

"At least you have Lavendar" Hermione replied, as she went to her trunk and opened it.

"No I won't."

"Why? What happened? She's back this year too."

"Unfortunately" Parvarti said as she angrily slammed her trunk lid down. "We had a bit of a falling out this summer. She came to stay with me for a couple weeks after Padma left… right about when you and Ron started going out. Ginny and I were pretty close last year, seeing as how you three were gone. I got a letter from her while Lavender was at my house, and I told her to open it and read it to me. That letter was telling me, among other things, that you and Ron were together. Well, Lavender got quiet after she read that part, so I asked her what was wrong. And she flipped out on me. She asked me if I had a brain in my head and how could I forget that Ron was the _love of her life. _And I said that I thought she was glad they'd broken up and that I was happy for you two. That I could see how much you really liked each other when she and Ron were together. And then she stormed out in tears. I've tried apologizing but… you know Lavender. I personally think she's being pathetic. Since when was _Ron_ the love of her life? She just needs to get over the fact that you two have something she and him never had. I'm kind of glad it's over, actually. She was such a drama queen. I never had an amazing week the whole time I've been friends with her… she always had some crisis that I needed to fix for her. Honestly, it was so damn stressful!"

Hermione burst out laughing. Parvarti did too. "I'm sorry!" Hermione laughed. "I just think it's funny. Now that I think about it, you always had a frustrated look on your face whenever you were around her. I just never thought about it until know. Have you talked to her since then?"

"Nope. Well, she sent an owl asking for my brother, Rajesh to come drop her stuff off. But other than that, my world has been blissfully quiet and drama free for over a month!"

Just then none other than Lavender Brown stormed up the stair. Seeing Hermione and Parvarti, she stuck her nose snottily up in the air, thrust her lip out in a pout, and walked haughtily away.

"Drama queen" Parvarti announced as she and Hermione rolled their eyes. "Honestly."

"So…" Hermione asked, pulling on her pajamas, trying to find a way to broach the situation carefully. She decided there really wasn't a way to sneak up on the subject. "Do you fancy Dean?"

"Um… why?"

"Answer my question first. Do you fancy him?"

"Yeah. Since about first year. Why?"

"Glad to know it's not just me and Ron" Hermione mumbled before saying "Guess."

"You're kidding!"

"Nope. Heard it with my own ears."

"Wow… What do I do?"

"Tell him how you feel. See if it turns into anything over the year!"

"Maybe… You're sure he said he fancied me?"

"Yes."

"I'll think about it. I don't want to ruin anything between us. We've always been kind of friends. Not close friends, mind you, but friends."

"Just do what you think is right. I figured you should have the right to see what's right in front of you and act on it if you wanted to. I sure wish someone could have done that with me and Ron…"

By this time both girls were laying on their beds. Hermione reached out and turned off the light.

"Well, goodnight."

"Night Hermione. And… Thanks."

"For what?"

"For listening. And understanding. And for telling me."


	16. The Diary of Hermione Granger

**Hoped you liked the last chapter... I've always wanted to get to know Parvarti a little bit better, and I thought that this was the perfect opportunity to do so. Anyway, I decided to put a bit of Hermione's diary in here, from sixth year, and the year of the great horcrux hunt. Probably won't have anything up tomorrow night just to let you know, but I will definitely post something Sunday.**

**Keep reading and reviewing!**

Chapter 16

The next morning Hermione woke up quite early. Not wanting to disturb anyone she got dressed quickly and walked into the empty common room where she pulled out her diary. It had been a while since she'd written.

Pulling out a quill, she sighed and wondered where to begin. She couldn't decide. She put the quill away, deciding to write later. Instead, she flipped to the first page of the book and began reading.

Dear Diary,

Today was the first day of my sixth year at Hogwarts. It's hard to believe that five years ago today I was standing in the Great Hall, being sorted into Gryffindor, scared to absolute death. Not much has changed since then. I'm not scared of the same things, but I'm still scared. Of what? Voldemort. Not having my chance to be with Ron. Loosing my family or my friends or anyone that I care about. Depressing as it sounds, its absolutely true. Times are scary right know. Voldemort's back, and people are disappearing.

Shoot, got to go. Ron's coming over to me.

Dear Diary,

That A-hole! I cannot believe he did this to me! I cannot believe him! Ronald Weasley kissed Lavender Brown! I've always known that she was a bit of a... well never mind what she is… but I didn't think she'd stoop this low. Not after we'd sat up talking one night, after Ron'd told me I looked pretty, about how much I liked him and how I thought he was never going to realize it. I know that he and I haven't been on the best terms as of late, but that doesn't give him any right to do this! He has to know how much I like him. He has to! Shouldn't he?

Dear Diary:  
>Finally! All is right in the world! They broke up! Here's the story: Ron was poisoned… on his birthday no less, and ended up in the hospital wing, barely alive. Harry came and told me as soon as he'd known that Ron was going to be all right, and we'd gone up to the hospital wing. I know that we haven't spoken in months, but I was terrified. Lavender arrived shortly after we did. I was sitting beside Ron's bed, and she stormed up to me and told me I had no right to be there because he and I hadn't spoken in months and that she "happened to be his girlfriend!" Well, just about then, Ron began to mumble something in his sleep, which turned out to be my name, and she got mad and stormed out. A couple nights later, we were helping Harry sneak out to Hagrid's in his invisibility cloak, and Lavender saw me and Ron together and broke up with him. I honestly don't know any time when I'd seen him so happy. I feel so optimistic. That's a first in a long time for me.<p>

Hermione's list of hopes and dreams:  
>1. Get through Hogwarts with good grades<p>

2. Get a job that will help improve the world

3. Have a chance with Ron Weasley. We can see where it goes from there.

Dear Diary:  
>What a day yesterday was. Bill and Fleur got married, which was wonderful. But then Death Eaters decided to crash the party, and we had to apparate to the muggle world to keep from getting caught. Luckily I had my bag packed and ready to go. And luckily, I stuffed this book in there last minute. I figured I would need something to distract me later. We had another close encounter with the Death Eaters, and decided to go to Grimmauld Place. We all slept in the living room last night. None of us wanted to be alone. Harry told me this morning that Ron and I were holding hands when he woke up. I only vaguely remember this last night, but I'm glad it wasn't a dream. Note to self: watch Harry- his scar has been hurting again, and all he seems to want to do is be alone.<p>

Dear Diary:  
>I cannot believe I am writing this. He's gone. Ron's gone. He left. We'd all been fighting. It seems that all we've been doing lately. And Ron got mad and stormed out and disapparated. He thinks that I'm choosing to stay with Harry because I love Harry, not him. It's not true! I don't think I could love anyone more than I love Ron. It breaks my heart to think that he doesn't realize that. His last words to me were "Oh I get it. You choose him." What am I going to do without him? It seemed like he was the only one I could talk to about some stuff, like how hard it was to leave Mum and Dad. He understood what it felt like for me because he had to do the same thing. And now he's gone.<p>

Dear Diary:  
>It's over. The war is finally over. Voldemort's dead, the muggle borns are coming out of hiding, and the death eaters are being sent to Azkaban. It came at a price though. Fred, Tonks, Lupin, Colin Creevy… and so many more. Even Dobby. I haven't been able to stop crying. The only thing that has kept me from completely breaking down is the fact that Ron and Harry are still alive. I kissed Ron- it seemed like the most perfect thing in the world. Listen to me- we ended the war but paid for it with so many lives and all I can talk about is kissing Ron. What is wrong with me? Ron's telling me that I need sleep, and I agree with him… I'll write later.<p>

But she hadn't written later. She'd meant to. But so much had happened right away. She realized that most of the entries in the diary were about Ron and her feelings about him.

"And I was convinced that when I bought this diary that it was going to have boring academic stuff and what we were doing to save the wizarding world written in it!" Hermione mused.

Just then Ron came down the stairs from the boy's dormitory. "Morning" he yawned as he plopped on the couch next to her. "You're up early."

"It's a tradition for me- I used to be so nervous on the first day of classes that I couldn't sleep, so I would get up early to calm myself down. Now it's just… habit I guess."

"What's that?" Ron asked, pointing at the diary.

"My diary from sixth year and part of last year. Read it." She handed it to him. "I think you will find it fairly interesting."

"Why's that?" Ron asked, completely serious.

"You can be really thick sometimes, you know that? It's almost all about you!"

"Oh…"

"Wow" he said a short time later. "I cannot believe that this was you writing this! It barely sounds like you. You were actually jealous about me and Lavender?"

"Blatantly jealous… I'm pretty sure you were the only one who didn't notice" she teased.

"Last night I was talking to Parvarti and it turns out that she hasn't talked to Lavender ever since they found out we were together. I guess Lavender was a total drama queen about it, saying that you were the love of her life. Parvarti accidentally told her that she was happy for us and Lavender stormed out. Haven't talked since!"

"Are you serious! She said that I was the love of her life? I thought she broke up with me!"

"I know! I thought the same thing when she told me."

"It's so nice to be back" Ron sighed. "Brings back memories. And that makes me want to make more."

"I know what you're saying" Hermione agreed. "Sitting here right know I think about all the times we've sat here with Harry talking about life whilst begging me to do your homework for you."

"Speaking of which…" Ron teased.

"Oh, no, Ronald Weasley. Don't you think even for a second that just because we're together that I'm doing your homework for you. It's high time you learned to stop procrastinating!"

"Damn" Ron replied. "Should we go down to breakfast?"


	17. Potions and Parvati

Chapter 17

The Great Hall was still empty, except for a scattering of about ten students milling around tiredly. Hermione and Ron sat down, and began filling their plates, and were joined minutes later by Ginny and Harry.

They exchanged a round of good mornings and fell to eating silently.

"Ugh" Ginny grumbled after a moment. "I slept in way to often this summer. I was in no way prepared for the hell that is getting up in the mornings for school."

"Speak for yourself" Hermione said, "but you shouldn't be complaining. I was up until nearly midnight talking to Parvati, and I was up at 5:30!"

"That is your own fault" Ginny retorted.

"Someone's in a lovely mood today" Harry joked with her, but he was silent once again when Ginny sent him a glare that told him he was about five seconds from being bat boogy hexed if he didn't shut up. Ron laughed, but shut up after he was given that same look.

A half an hour later students began flooding in, hurrying to eat their breakfast before they had to go to their first class. The heads of houses went through their house assigning schedules to everyone.

Professor McGonagall came over to the four of them first. "Well, Potter, Weasley, I'm assuming that you are still planning to become aurors? Your actions this past year have more than proven that."

They answered that yes, becoming aurors was still their goal, and they were given schedules that included Defense Against the Dark Arts, potions, herbology, charms, and transfiguration.

Hermione, still unsure of what she wanted to do, decided to continue with the NEWTS level classes she had been taking her sixth year. She immediately rushed off to Arithmancy, while the boys went back up to the common room. Like in their sixth year, they had a free period first.

"Ahh" said Ron as he flopped back onto the couch. "I love free mornings."

"Ginny wants me to be her co-captain on the quidditch team this year" Harry interjected. He'd been mulling it over for a while, but wanted Ron's opinion on the matter. "Do you think I should?"

"Yeah, mate, I think that would be great! Why haven't you accepted already?"

"I don't know… I guess I kind of feel like I might be stealing the lime light away from Ginny if I accept. I'm not even suppose to be in school anymore, much less being co-captain of the Gryffindor team."

"Obviously Ginny doesn't care about that, does she? I mean, she wouldn't have asked if she didn't want your help."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right. You're not, I don't know, for lack of a better word, jealous about this, are you?"

"No. I'm happy just to have a spot on the Quidditch team. According to Ginny, McLaggen was keeper last year, and he wasn't half as good as me. And that's coming from my sister, who would never tell me I was good at ANYTHING growing up."

Harry laughed and then said "I guess I'm the new Quidditch co-captain, then".

"Have you and Ginny talked about try-outs yet?"

"Kind of. Probably next weekend, if we can get the pitch. You're trying for Keeper then?"

"Oh, yeah. If my sister will let me onto her team!"

Then the bell rang and the two boys had to hurry out of the common room in order to get to potions on time.

"Harry m'boy" Slughorn boomed as he lumbered over to where Harry, Ginny, Hermione, and Ron were standing in the back corner, waiting for the lesson to begin. "It's so nice to have you back in the classroom. I'll make a potioneer out of you yet. Just like you're mother…"

"Thank you, sir" Harry replied politely as Slughorn made his way to the front of the room.

"Alright, settle down and find a seat. Take out your copies of Advanced Potion making. We are going to get to work right away."

Everyone in the room hurried to comply. Half of the class was made up of last year's seventh years, who had decided to come back for another year.

"So nice to see all of your bright faces back in my class… some of you for a third time. Now, today we will be working on making antidotes for poisons. I know we went over this last year as well, but I feel that some of us could use a refresher course. And this time I'm going to make myself a little bit clearer than I was two years ago. The antidote must be in potion form… Mr. Potter."

Ron nudged Harry on the shoulder. "Lucky for me that you learned that one when you did."

Harry nodded and turned back to the lesson.

"Please take a flask of poison from my desk. You have the week to make a successful antidote for it- yes I think a week shall do it. These poisons are a bit trickier than the last set I gave you. Well, off you go. Hip hip!"

The class scurried up to Slughorn's massive desk, to grab their unmarked flask of poison. Harry dumped his flask into his cauldron and prodded the coals underneath it to make it ignite. Then he turned to his brand new copy of Advance Potions. He sighed and thought

"I wonder what Slughorn will think of my potions making abilities know that Snape's old copy of this is a pile of ash in the Room of Requirement?"

He turned to the chapter entitled antidotes and began to read:

_"Making antidotes is a vital skill to all potioneers. It requires an amount of skill, as well as a level of patience. Only highly trained healers and aurors are able to produce an antidote quickly- mostly because they have learned to recognize the symptoms various poisons produce. For a NEWTS potions class, in order to make an antidote, you must first identify what poison you are working with. Take a small pinch of powdered toad's horn and sprinkle it into the cauldron. Then, decipher, based on the following chart, what your poison is."_

He strode to the student store cupboard and threw it open. Glancing around, he quickly found powdered toad's horn, and took it back to the table he was sharing with Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. He sprinkled it into his cauldron- his potion turned from a light brown to the color of ebony.

"Leave it here, Harry" Hermione said absentmindedly as she pored over her own copy of the potions book. "We're all going to need some."

Harry did so, and bent over the book again.

After seeing that his potion was Blackberry Poison, he turned to the section about making antidotes for specific poisons.

"Once you have determined your specific potion, look up the list of ingredients needed to make the poison and determine the ratio between the ingredients."

"This is why this is going to take a week" Harry thought as he looked at the ingredients used to make Blackberry Poison. "It's going to take forever just to find the ratios".

The whole group left potions an hour later feeling dejected and put out. "Is it just me, or did that class get a whole lot harder over the past year?" Harry asked as they trooped up the stairs to Transfiguration.

"No, it's just you" Hermione answered. "You just got a book that cheated for you, so you didn't have any problems remember?"

Ron smirked and looked at Harry, whispering "It's not just you. She's just glad that she's finally at the head of the class again."

"I heard that Ronald Weasley!"

...

**Parvarti's POV:**

"There's no way he likes me" Parvarti thought to herself for the twentieth time since Hermione had told her that Dean fancied her last night. "I've fancied him for the better part of forever, but come on. He doesn't like me." Sighing, she took out a piece of paper. It was times like this that she really missed her sister.

"_Dear Padma_," she wrote hurriedly, hoping that she might hear back from her sister within a day or two.

"_After the big blow up with Lavender, I began talking to Hermione… she says hello, by the way, and congrats on the new job. Anyway, she cheered me up about the whole thing, and told me something interesting: Dean fancies me. I'm so confused, Pad… I don't know what to do. I get so many mixed signals from him- one minute he's won't stop looking at me, and once or twice I've seen him looking in my direction the way that Ron looks at Hermione. And two seconds later, he's looking at me like I'm crazy or like I have my skirt tucked into my underwear!"  
>"I just don't know what to do! Help!"<em>

"_Miss you lots! Love, 'Ti."_

She raced up to the owlery, banging the door open. She gave the letter to her owl, Persephone, and watched her become a small dot in the sky before disappearing from view. Turning around, she saw the door to the owlery door bang open. It was Dean. He took one look at her, and left.

Parvati was left gaping.

"What! He fancies you, Parvati! He really does!" she mimicked, an almost perfect impression of Hermione. "What a load of bull!" Tears stung her cheeks.

Walking over to a bench on the side of the room, she sat down, and brought her feet up next to her, curling into a tight ball, and began to sob. She was crying so hard, she didn't notice that someone had came in, until she heard them sit down on the bench, a few feet away from her. She looked up. It was Dean.

"Great. Just great" she thought bitterly. "This is just what I need right now." It took all she had not to run out the door.

Instead, she forced herself to stay where she was. "He doesn't know" she reassured herself. "The only thing worse than him not fancying you is him knowing that you fancy him and him laughing at you."

"What's wrong? Why are you crying?" he asked after a silent moment, not looking her in the eye.

"It's… it's nothing. I'm fine."

"Yeah, because you look fine, Parvati Patil."

"Dean Thomas, I am fine. I'm just having a bad day and I miss my sister."

And?"

"And, it's nothing! I'm already feeling better, see?" she said, forcing herself to smile. All the while she was thinking "Just get out of here. It's only going to make it feel worse later on. Just get out! Get into your dorm and you can cry all you want."

"Come on, Parvati! I know you better than that!"

"Then you tell me what's wrong with me! Because I just told you it was nothing!"

"I.. I…"

"That's right, Dean Thomas! What do you know about me! What do you know about anything!" she was practically screaming, her brain matching it in decibels while saying "Mayday! Get out! NOW!"

"I know that you're smart, and that you're beautiful, and that I… I…"

"You what?"

For an answer, he closed the gap between them in two footsteps and pressed his lips to hers. He looked at her nervously, trying to decipher his next move based on the look in her eyes.

"What the bloody hell was that, Dean?"

"What do you think it was!"

"That's exactly what I want to know! One minute you walk out of the owlery just because I'm in here and the next thing I know, you're kissing me! I don't know about you, but I'm getting a bunch of mixed signals."

"Parvati…"

"Just leave me alone, Dean. I can't go through this right now. I'm having too many issues of my own to add you into the picture. So just leave me alone."

She brushed past him as she ran out of the tower. He tried to catch her hand as she left, but she shook it away.

**Hi again! Hope you liked this chapter. What did you think of the Parvati POV? It will be continued in the next chapter, which will probably be up on Tuesday. The potions class was a big filler, but I needed to get through a lesson. If you have any constructive critisism for how to write a better class scene, please don't hesitate to tell me. It will help A LOT!**

**Keep reading and keep reviewing!**


	18. A Happy Beginning

**Sorry this chapter is so short... it's one of my shortest. I wanted to finish the Dean/Parvati substory. Whenever I thought of Parvati with someone, I thought of her with Dean. So I decided that's what was going to happen in this story. Next chapter will be back to normal. Anyway, thanks for all of the reviews! I get a warm, fuzzy feeling whenever I come home from school and see two or three new reviews.**

**Keep reading, and keep reviewing. (I'm having a hard time spelling review today. I'm getting my e and w mixed up :D"**

Chapter 18

Parvati's POV

She ran the whole way to her dorm, past many pairs of curious eyes following her down the hallway. Reaching her bed, she flung herself down upon it. This was when she really needed her sister.

"If Padma was here" she thought "she would break into the common room and tell me that Dean's a jerk who doesn't deserve me. But she's not here!"

There was a small knock on the door, and then Hermione let herself in. "What happened?" she asked, reaching into her bag and pulling out a pint of cookie dough ice cream and a spoon. She handed them to Parvati and said "Eat. It helps. Trust me."

"He kissed me…"

"What!"

"I was in the owlery and he walked in and as soon as he saw me he walked back out again… and then I started crying and he came in and asked me what was wrong and we got into an argument and the next thing I knew, he was kissing me!"

"What's so bad about that, then?"

"He walked out when he saw me Hermione! Do you really think that he meant it?"

"Yes, I do" Hermione said soothingly, as she sat down on the bed next to Parvati. "People in love do stupid things. I mean, look at Ron. He spent six months with Lavender the octopus just because he'd found out that Victor Krum had kissed me after the Yule Ball!"

"Really?" Parvati asked, momentarily distracted. "What a prat!"

"I know, I know. Back on subject. What are you going to do? Because you can't sit up here hiding forever."

"Yes, I can."

"You can, but you're not. I know quite a few good spells that will have you out of bed in a heartbeat. And they aren't pretty."

"Why do I have to?"

"Because I'm not going to let you sit up here and feel sorry for yourself. He likes you. He just doesn't know how to tell you. Come on. I have an idea. Girls night?"

"Fine." She stood up. "Ugh. Look at my face. I hate it when I cry. It gets all red and puffy, and it takes forever to get back to normal."

"Come on. Let's go to the head's rooms. Ron and I decided that we would rather stay in these dorms, but it doesn't mean we can't use them… perfect spot for a girl's night. We would be guaranteed privacy. Plus, it has a tv and a huge movie collection!"

"Okay. Let's go. Dean isn't downstairs, is he?"

"He wasn't when I came up. He ran upstairs as soon as he'd came in."

The girls stuffed the stuff they'd need for the night into bags, and quickly left the dormitory.

Hermione quickly told Ron her plans for the night, and kissed him. Parvati looked away, trying not to think about what had happened earlier. She heard a voice behind her say her name.

"What?" she asked, turning around quickly to face Dean.

"Can we… go somewhere to talk? Please?"

She looked at Hermione, not sure what to do. "Go" she mouthed at her.

"Fine" she told him, fiddling with her hair nervously. Together, they left the common room. She followed him into an empty and never used classroom.

As soon as he'd closed the door, he turned to her and asked "Do you fancy me or not, Parvati?"

"What?"

"Just answer the question. Do you fancy me?"

"I… yes." She couldn't look him in the eyes. She knew she wouldn't be able to stand his laughing at her confession.

" 'Ti." He said his nickname for her softly, gently lifting her head up to look him in the eyes as he said it. He wanted to say more, but couldn't put it into words. Instead, he gently lowered his head, and then his lips to hers.

He looked at her, searching her eyes for his next move. They were unreadable.

"Please, Dean, just go. It's not funny."

"Why would this be funny?"

"To you… you're making fun of me for what happened earlier."

"No I'm not. I'm trying to tell you that I love you!"

"You're what?"

" 'Ti, I love you!" he put a hand to her face, smoothing away a renegade tear that she hadn't managed to keep back.

"I love you too!"

Again, their lips met, their arms tangling around each other tightly, not wanting to let go.

"I thought about you all the time, last year. Wondering if you were safe, wanting to be here to be able to protect you, hoping that nothing bad was happening to you…"

"Me too. God, I was so worried about you. I nearly cried when I saw you at the battle."

They stopped talking, their arms still wound around each other, happy to just be together.

...

"I wonder how things are going for Parvati and Dean" Hermione said from her spot on the couch next to Ron. "They've been gone for a while. Her question was answered a few minutes later, when the couple in question came into the common room hand in hand.

"Hermione as a matchmaker" Ginny teased. "Who'd of thunk it?"


	19. Uneasy

Chapter 19

The rest of the week didn't go much better than their first potions lesson. Professor Warwick had began their first transfiguration lesson with a lecture… a very boring lecture. It turns out he was as nervous as Professor Quirrell. "This is going to be a long year" Hermione muttered under her breath to Ron.

"I hope your paying attention" Harry whispered to the both of them. "Because if he quizzes us on this, I'm going to fail."

"Since when do you care about your grades?" Hermione teased. The bell rang and they hurried out of the classroom on Friday afternoon, competing in a race that seemed to be going on to get out of the classroom the fastest.

"I know it's hard to replace McGonagall, but still" Hermione said exasperatedly.

They did basically the same things in the rest of their classes, something which set Hermione on edge. She wanted to get back into the routine of something familiar. It comforted her.

When they arrived back in the common room that night, Harry posted a flier announcing Quidditch tryouts on the bulletin board.

"They already have the first Hogesmede weekend posted" he told them when he came back. "It's next weekend."

"Excellent" Ron grinned. "Plans? Ideas?"  
>"I'm thinking about seeing if my cousin wants to come hang out with us" Harry said. "I could apparate to Privet Drive to get him, and he could hang with us for the day."<p>

"Okay…" Hermione said slowly.

"What?" Harry asked.

"It's just… is your cousin going to want to spend the day with a bunch of wizards who he's never met?"

"He might, he might not. I'll owl him tomorrow and see."

"Owl who?" Ginny asked, overhearing Harry's last few words as she walked into the common room.

"My cousin" he replied. "See if he wants to spend Hogsmede weekend with us. I want to find out how it went while he and my aunt and uncle were in hiding."

"That's a good idea."

"You think so?"

"Yeah. I want to meet your cousin. I haven't got to spend a lot of time with him. I want to see if he's as stupid as Fred and George said he was!"

Everyone burst out laughing.

"He is" Ron assured her, his face turning the same shade of red as his hair as he laughed.

Hermione elbowed him in the chest.

"Ow! What was that for!"

"He's not that stupid! He just likes sweets!"

"Hermione, according to Fred and George, their tongue toffees were bright pink with polka dots on it. How many muggle sweets do you know that look like that?"

"I guess he was pretty stupid!"

"Ding ding ding. What did you guys think of classes today?"

"It was horrible!" Hermione cried. "The only class besides potions where we actually did anything was in Arithmancy! Which reminds me, I need to get to the library. I have some homework and I need to look some stuff up."

Ron rolled his eyes. "You have homework? We haven't done anything all week!"

"Yeah, I do."

"You don't sound mad about that."

"Not really."

"You're weird. If I had homework after the week we've had, I would be contemplating leaving!"

Harry snickered, but Hermione gave them dirty looks.

"I'm leaving now. Have fun with those two immature five year olds who don't understand the value of an education, Ginny. They aren't going to be laughing when I won't give them my notes or let them copy my homework."

Ginny laughed. "See you later Hermione."

Hermione rushed as fast as she could. She didn't have homework. She just wanted an excuse to go to her corner in the library. It was the place she went to solve the world's and her world's problems; it was her place to sit and think, undisturbed by the world. After the day she'd had, she just needed to sit and think.

She went to a corner towards the back of the gigantic library, which had been christened "Hermione's corner". Sinking into a plush armchair and pulling it up to a table, she took out her diary and opened it.

"I need to write. I'm going to loose it if I don't. So much has happened, and all I wanted was to get back into routine. And now that I have it doesn't seem the same. And Professor Warwick… there's something about him. I don't like him. Call it a gut feeling but…"

She shook her head. "You're just tired and anxious and a million other things."

Then she began to write. She wrote about the funeral for Fred, finding her parents, her vacation, her and Ron's first date, going back to school, about her anxiety to get back into routine and the disappointment she felt when things weren't going as usual, and her uneasiness about Professor Warwick.

When she finished, she'd felt that a giant weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. Looking at the clock, she saw it was nearly nine o'clock. "I should get back" she said, yawning. "They're probably wondering where I am!"

She hoisted her bag onto her shoulder, and left the library, enjoying the short trek between the library and the common room. "Finally" she thought. "Something feels right."

Her first sight when she walked into the common room, however, wasn't. Because that first sight was Lavender Brown kissing Ron.

**Cliff hanger... duh duh duh! There is a purpose for this... you just have to keep reading to find out. This chapter is really short... sorry. I'm having a bit of a case of writer's block. I've just about worked through it, though, so I should be posting longer chapters before long. **

**I should have the next chapter posted tomorrow or the next day... I have a bunch of stuff going on tomorrow... the PLAN for half of the day, stuff after school, plus a bunch of makeup homework for the morning so I'll just have to see how much I have to get done.**

**Anyway, keep reading and keep reviewing!**


	20. Forgiveness

**Not going to lie, I was shocked when no one reviewed that last chapter. I know it was mostly crap, but that last sentence I thought was going to spark some reviews! Any way, this chapter tells why there was a lip lock between Ron and Lavender. Let me know what you think!  
>Keep reading and keep reviewing!<strong>

Chapter 20

Hermione let out a choked sob as she saw them together. Ron turned around at the sight of the noise, and saw Hermione standing behind them, giving them a death glare. He turned to Lavender and said angrily: "What the bloody hell was that?"

Lavender let out a strangled "Ah… Ah… I…"

Ron looked at her disgustedly. "Stay away from me! Leave me alone!"

He turned to look back at Hermione, but saw that she had disappeared.

"Bloody Hell" he muttered. Then he walked up the stairs to the girl's dormitory.

"Hermione?" he asked, knocking on the door before opening it.

"What do you want?" she asked, in a cold, hurt voice.

"Let me explain! That wasn't what it looked like!"

"It seemed pretty clear to me, Ronald Weasley! It seemed to me that you were enjoying kissing that… that…!" Instead of saying exactly what she thought of Lavender, she picked up the nearest thing, which was her copy of Pride and Prejudice, and hurled it at Ron. "Get out" she snarled. "Just leave me alone!"

He slowly stepped back, and out of the room. He sat down dejectedly on the sofa. Ginny came up to him a moment later.

"What was that all about?" Ginny asked? "I could hear her yelling down here. What did you do?"

"Why do you always assume it's me that did something?"

"Because you have a tendency to be a prat, that's why."

"She saw Lavender Brown trying to stick her tongue down my throat! It wasn't me! I swear to God!"

Ginny punched him in the arm, and looked doubtful. "What happened?" she sighed.

"Well, after Hermione left, and you and Harry went to try to book the Quidditch Pitch for tryouts, I fell asleep on the sofa- I was going to wait up for Hermione- it seemed like something was bugging her, and I know the library is the place she goes to think things through, so I was going to give her a little bit of time, and then see if she wanted to talk about it. Well, like I said, I'd fallen asleep, and I woke up when I heard the door open, thinking it was Hermione. It was just a group of fourth years coming back from the library or something. Lavender came up to me and asked me for some help with her Charm's homework, and I was so out of it that I completely forgot that we didn't have homework in charms today, I went and did it. And the next thing I new, she was all over me, and trying to stick her tongue down my throat!"

Ginny still looked doubtful.

"It's the truth!" he said defensively. "I would swear it on anything!"

"Only you, Ron" she said after a minute. "How is it that you manage to make a prat out of yourself without even trying?"

"Hey!"

"It's the truth! I'll go talk to her. I'm not promising anything, but maybe she'll at least agree to talk to you."

"Thanks, Ginny" Ron replied gratefully. "I owe you."

"Yes, you do" she teased as she headed up the stairs.

….

"Hermione?" Ginny asked, knocking at the door.

"What?" came her muffled reply.

"Can I come in?"

There was a pause.

"Well, I am whether you like it or not."

She walked into the dimly lit room. Her foot bumped the copy of Pride and Prejudice. She bent to pick it up, and then continued to Hermione's bed, where Hermione lay with her face pressed into her pillow.

"What happened?" Ginny asked understandingly.

Hermione raised her face, which was red and stained with tears, and sat up. "He was kissing… Lavender Brown."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"I'd just had everything figured out- that I was feeling anxious to get back into a routine, that I don't feel right about Professor Warwick, that everything was beginning to feel like it used to… I'd worked a lot of stuff out. And I was going back to the common room to apologize for being so weird and for snapping at you all today. And the first thing I saw when I walked in was him kissing Lavender. He just turned around and looked at me, and then turned back to Lavender. He said something, but I didn't stick around. He'd done enough. He came up a minute later, trying to feed me some bull about how she'd been kissing him."

"Do you care to explain how this book came to be on the floor?"

"I chucked it at him whilst screaming at him to get out."

"Did you hit him?"

"Yes."

"Good. But it's not true. He wasn't kissing her. I talked to him- he was waiting up for you so he could find out what was wrong and if you wanted to talk about it, and he fell asleep on the sofa. When he woke up Lavender asked for help with Charms homework- he was still half asleep, so he went and did it, completely forgetting that we didn't have charms homework tonight. And then she was all over him. You know how Ron gets when he's half asleep, Hermione… you could tell him to take a swim in the Black Lake in the middle of January and he'd do it! Besides- he's spent a large portion of his life crushing on you! Do you really thing that he'd give that up now?"

"Even if he wasn't the one kissing her, he looked like he was enjoying it!"

"He wasn't. When you left he told her to stay away from him and to leave him alone."

"It's just so hard, Ginny. Seeing him kissing her, I mean. It brings back all of those feelings that I had when he was dating her. I'd liked him for so long, it tore me apart when they started going out. Because I thought he was finally getting the idea that I liked him, and I thought he was going to ask me out or something. God, I've liked him for so long… it hurts so much for me to see him doing that."

"I know. I know."

"What do you know about any of this?" Hermione asked, her voice level rising a couple increments.

"Harry" Ginny said patiently.

"And how does Harry tie into all of this?" Hermione snarled. "How could you think that you and your perfect relationship could tie into this? It doesn't!" She was yelling by this time, tears screaming down her face again.

"You're right" Ginny replied. "It doesn't relate in the same way. But I know what it's like to have liked someone for practically half of your life, and to have him do something that hurts you. Remember when Harry was with Cho? Do you not remember me having this exact same conversation with you then? And when he broke it off with me before he left?"

"You're right" Hermione mumbled. "Sorry. It's just, it hurts. I gave him my diary that I kept sixth year and last year to read this morning. He knows how I felt when I saw him with Lavender. And then the next thing I know, he's kissing her."

"Hermione, it took him four years practically to admit he fancied you. Do you really think that he's going to start making out with Lavender just for the heck of it after that?" Ginny repeated, with an air of someone experienced in the matter.

"No" Hermione said in a small voice.

"He didn't kiss her" Ginny repeated. "He wants to talk to you- apologize if he has to. Will you talk to him?"

Hermione sighed, considering. "I guess so" she said eventually.

"Good" Ginny said, squeezing her hand. "And don't worry, I've already yelled at him for being a prat several times."

Hermione let out a little laugh, and wiped her eyes.

"I'll go get him."

Two seconds later, Ron appeared in Hermione's room.

"Let me explain!" he blurted out, as Hermione looked up at him. "I did not kiss her! I was asleep…"

"Yes, I know" Hermione said agitatedly over him. "Ginny already told me. What I want you to do is look me in the eyes and tell me that you didn't kiss her, and that you didn't want her to."

"I did not kiss Lavender Brown, and I did not want her to kiss me. I also did not enjoy it in the slightest." He told her this with his blue eyes gazing intently into hers, never faltering for a second. His eyes held hers for a few extra seconds.

She sat down on her bed. "Am I forgiven?" he asked, after a few moments of silence.

Hermione didn't answer with the exception of a few tears trickling down her face. Ron moved to sit next to her- he took it as a good sign when she didn't move away.

"Hermione, I wouldn't cheat on you. I couldn't and I wouldn't do that to you. Why would I? I've liked you for almost half of my life! Why would I want to screw that up?"

"I don't know" she admitted. "God, I just feel like I don't know anything anymore! I'm so confused!"

He tentatively put an arm around her waist, and pulled her to him. She caved and buried her head in his shoulder.

"What's wrong" he asked. "You went to the library for a reason- and it wasn't to do Arithmancy homework. I know you better than that."

She sighed. "I don't know. I needed to clear my head- nothing seems the same anymore. Normally by now we would normally be buried with homework. With the way things are going right now, we aren't going to have homework until next month! And the new teachers- especially Professor Warwick. I don't like him. I don't know why. I just have a bad feeling."

"So that's what's wrong" Ron thought. He almost felt relieved. "I thought it was much worse."

"What do you mean, nothing's the same?" he said slowly, out loud. "Because from the way I look at it, there's been some changes, sure, but more things have stayed the same than have changed. You still have me, and Harry, and Ginny, and Neville, and Luna. And you have your parents, who love you, and my parents who love you- nothings changed about any of that. And you're still the same- thank God that hasn't changed. And the classes- you just need time to get used to how they are going to be. Maybe the teachers just want to start easy to give us time to adjust again. And Professor Warwick? I would be willing to bet that you just feel uneasy about him because he's not the same as Professor McGonagall."

"You think so?"

"Yeah, I do."

"What would I do without you?" Hermione said, finally lifting her head off of Ron's shoulder. "Everything seems to make sense to you."

"It doesn't. Trust me."

Hermione kissed him. "Thank you."

"I take it I'm forgiven, then?"

"Yes, you are."

"Thank you. We should go downstairs."

"Why? It's so much nicer up here with you, away from reality."

"To show reality that they can't beat us, 'Mione."

He pulled her off the bed, and wrapped his arm securely around her waist.

Ginny looked up from where she was sitting on the couch next to Harry. They were joined a couple minutes later by Ron and a still red faced Hermione.

"I owe you big time" Ron said to Ginny.

They heard a sputtering sound from behind them, and turned around just in time to see Lavender sprinting up the stairs to the girl's dormitory.

"Good riddance" Ginny cried enthusiastically.

**Me again... what did you think? I'm being kind of harsh to Lavender, I know, but I cannot STAND her! To many people like her go to my school and ruin lives. Her kissing Ron to tick Hermione off and to try to break them up was just the kind of thing I could see her doing. I'm thinking of going for the "If I can't be happy, no one can be happy" angle. **

**Keep R and R!**


	21. Pickup Lines and Poetry

**Wow- 21 chapters! When I first started this, I had no clue that it would go for this long. I just thought it was going to be a quick thing. And now I have over 100 pages saved on my laptop! **

**Glad you guys liked the last chapter! Keep reading and keep reviewing!**

Chapter 21

As the week wore on, Hermione felt herself relaxing more and more as she got back into the grind of things. She knew that Harry, Ron, and Ginny all thought she was crazy for actually liking homework, but it made her life seem normal.

That Saturday, she found herself being dragged out to the Quidditch pitch by Parvati to watch the Gryffindor tryouts. Scanning the small crowd that had gathered on the pitch, she quickly spotted Ron's tall, lanky form. He saw her as well, Hermione gathered, based on the smile that lit of his face when he spotted her.

Catching his eye she mouthed "Good luck!"

Hermione turned to ask Parvarti a question, but she closed her mouth when she saw her looking at Dean. And Dean was looking at her. In a way she instantly recognized. Because it was the same way Ron looked at her. Deciding to let them alone in their own little world, she turned to watch the tryouts again; only moments later Seamus' voice called out to them.

"Hermione! Parvati! Remember me telling you about Abigail? Well, here she is. Abby, this is Hermione Granger and Parvati Patil."

"It iz nice to meet you" she answered shyly, with only a slight French accent. Seamus wasn't kidding when he said she was perfect. She had crystal clear skin, blue bell colored eyes, and dark brown hair that fell to just below her shoulders.

"Nice to meet you, too" Hermione answered politely.

"Why aren't you down at tryouts, Seamus?" Parvati asked. "Dean told me that you were trying for beater."

"I'm going down there in a minute. I just wanted to introduce you to Abby."

"You're welcome to watch with us" Hermione told her, patting the seat next to her.

"Thank you" Abby said, coming forward to take the seat. "Good luck!"

"So" Hermione said after a few moments of awkward silence. "What made you decide to transfer to Hogwarts? Seamus told us that you were coming, but he never said why."

"Well, I live with my grandmother and grandfather in England and my grandfather's health is starting to fail. I wanted to be closer to them in case anything happened to him."

"If you're English, why were you going to Beauxbatons in the first place?"

"My parents and I lived there until two years ago. They were killed in a fire before I turned sixteen."

"Oh, I'm sorry" Hermione said sincerely, feeling slightly uncomfortable.

"Thank you. Meeting Seamus kind of cemented the transfer though. I was still on the edge when I met him, and then my mind was made up!"

Parvati laughed. "You two look so cute together! How did you meet?"

"I was on a walk around the neighborhood at the beginning of June and met him in the park. It turns out he's lived right down the street from me since I moved in and I hadn't even realized it!"

"Love at first sight?" Parvati asked, leaning in slightly to hear Abigail better over the blowing wind and chatter.

"Good God, no! I hated him at first! I couldn't stand him!"

"What did he say?" Hermione asked.

"He tried out a couple pickup lines on me. Like… 'I just had Skittles- wanna taste the rainbow?'"

"He didn't!"

"He did. My favorite was 'Your lips look lonely… Would they like to meet mine?'"

"Please tell me that you slapped him."

"Oh, I did. And it looked like it hurt."

"Do NOT let him teach those to Ron" Hermione moaned. "It's all he would do!" Then she turned to Parvati. "Do you remember the time that they boys came up with a list of cheesy pickup lines and used them whenever they talked to a girl… that was what? Third year, fourth year?"

"How could I forget?" Parvati grumbled. "The first time Dean said one I thought he was really hitting on me and I almost said yes to whatever he was asking me, before I realized that he was joking."

"Same with Ron."

"Wait- who's Ron?" Abigail asked, confused.

"My boyfriend…"

"You mean Ron Weasley!"

"Yeah, why?"

"The Ron Weasley… Friends with Harry Potter and… Hermione Granger!"

"Yep, that's me" Hermione said, falsely cheerful.

"I just never put two and two together! I didn't even realize…"

"No biggie."

"So you two got together, then? It's been all over witch weekly and the prophet- the speculations of whether or not you were in a relationship or not."

"I try not to read those. It's all gossip, and I have better things to worry about."

"Oh" Abigail got suddenly quiet.

"It's alright, it really is" Hermione quickly reassured her. "I just wish that they would get out of our lives already and report on some of the important stuff. Anyway, back to you and Seamus… if you couldn't stand him so much, why are you together now?"

"He wrote me a poem. Cheesy, I know, but it was cute! All about how sorry he was that he thought I was the kind of girl that would fall for a pickup line. And then he asked me to go to dinner with him, his treat, to make up for it. I couldn't help it. I said yes."

"Aww! I always knew he had a sweet side in there somewhere!" Parvati sighed.

"I'm still not quite convinced" Hermione said skeptically.

Suddenly she felt someone grab her around her waist from behind. "Ahh!" she shrieked, wiggling in the arms to see who it was. It was Ron.

"Oh, it's you" she said nonchalantly. "That was fast."

"Oh it's you? That's all your boyfriend who just got the spot of keeper gets as a hello?"

"You made it!" Hermione shrieked. "Congratulations! I knew you would!" Then she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him, not caring that Parvati and Abigail were gawking.

"Maybe I should try for the team every week" Ron said slyly.

"Nice try" Hermione smirked. "How many people tried out this year?"

"Not many" Ron replied.

"Who made the team?"

"Well, I'm keeper."

"I already know that, Ronald."

"I made Chaser" Dean said, coming up next to Pavarti.

"And I got Beater" Seamus said as he joined the group.

"Who's the other Chaser?"

"Fifth year called Ethan Longsky" Ron answered. "He's alright. Bit of a git, really."

"So Ginny, Dean, and Ethan are Chasers, you're keeper, Harry's seeker, and Seamus is one Beater. Who's the other?"

"Wait 'til you here this one, 'Mione."

"What?"

"Remember when McLaggen had to fill in for me after I got poisoned? How he stole one of the beater's bats and sent a bludger at Harry?"

"Yeah…"

"Harry yelled at him later and told him that he'd better be a beater next time he had the club in his hands. Well the git must have taken him seriously, because guess who showed up and tried for beater?"

"You're kidding!"

"Nope. I can't believe you didn't notice. He was trying to make eyes at you the whole trial!"

"We were talking about important things! We were only down here because you boys forced us to go. Is McLaggen any good?"

"Not great" Seamus answered. "No one else tried, or else he wouldn't have gotten the spot. Did you ladies get along well?"

"Spectacularly. Abigail was telling us about how you first met, Seamus. Quite a story."

"I told ya pick up lines work, gents!"

"Don't encourage them, Seamus!" Ginny said, making her way up from the pitch, Harry in tow. "I know that, personally, if Harry were to say anything like that to me, his arse would be on the curb in a heartbeat. Right, Harry?"

"Um, right."

"Right, Ronald?" Hermione asked sternly.

"Why would you even question whether or not I would say something like that to you?" Ron teased, slipping his arms around her waist.

"Third year!" all the girls replied. The boys laughed. "Good times. Good times" Dean sighed.

"Anyone have any plans for tonight?" Seamus asked. "We could get a poker game or chess tournament going or something."

"You boys go right ahead and do that. Girls night, ladies?" Ginny replied.

**I couldn't resist. I had to put something about pickup lines in this story... my friends and I went through a phase last year where we would look up cheesy pickup lines online and tell them to each other during band. It drove our teacher crazy! These were some of the more memorable of them. I have a bunch of others if anybody wants them :D And I had to put McLaggen. He may be a git, but the guy that played him in the HBP was extremly cute. I don't know if he's going to be in this very much though. Not sure. Ideas?**


	22. Girls Night Out

**Glad you all liked the cheesiness of the last chapter. I couldn't help myself. Brought back memories. Anyways, I wanted the girls to have a night completely free of the boys to discuss important stuff. And I think thats it for the Authors Note tonight. Probably not going to post tomorrow. I have a lot to do.**

**Keep reading and keep reviewing!**

**Oh BTW, Professor Warwick will be in the next chapter for those of you who are wondering.**

**Chapter 22**

"Luna!" Ginny called as they approached her in the dining hall that night. "Girls night tonight! Wanna come?"

"Ooh! Yes! That sounds wonderful! Then I can tell you all about the… Wait- who's this?" She pointed to Abigail, who'd just walked up to them, Seamus in tow.

"Sorry Luna! This is Abigail. She just transferred here from Beauxbatons."

"Abby, this is Luna Lovegood, a friend of ours who's in Ravenclaw."

"Nice to meet you" Abigail said politely, raising a hand to shake Luna's.

"You're in Gryffindor I'm assuming?" Luna asked, peering at Abby critically before apparently deciding that she liked her and smiled.

"Yes. I'm sharing a dorm with Hermione, Ginny, and Parvati."

"And you're with Seamus."

"Yep."

"Wanna here the story about how we got together, Luna?" Seamus asked enthusiastically. He received death glares from every woman present except for Luna.

Luna, oblivious, said "Sure!"

"Well, we were in the park and I told her 'I just had skittles, wanna taste the…'"

"Hey Neville!" Hermione interrupted loudly.

"Hi everyone" he said, blushing at the sight of Luna. "So umm… whats umm… new?" He stuttered, unable to form a complete and comprehendible sentence.

"Oh for heavens sake!" Hermione cried. "You're worse than Ron!"

Ginny turned back to Luna. "Are you coming? Girls night, I mean? We have a lot to talk about." She gave Luna a meaningful look, and then said "be in the Head's living room by eight."

"Ok! See you then." Then Luna waltzed over to the Ravenclaw and began to eat, ensconced in the latest edition of the Quibbler.

Ginny looked next at Neville. "If you're not going to ask her out anytime soon, you may want to learn how to speak in complete sentences. You're making it obvious that you like her when you can speak normally around everyone but her."

"I want to! It's just hard! If I can't speak right when she's in the vicinity, how am I suppose to be able to ask her out?"

"Don't be a Ron. That's all I'm saying" Ginny said, glancing at her brother, who was stuffing his face at the Gryffindor table.

"I heard that!" he shouted at her.

…..

"Tchaikovsky" Hermione said to the statue that marked the entrance to the head boy and girl's private dorm. She and Ron had both decided that they would rather stay in the craziness of the Gryffindor Common room than be there by themselves. But that didn't mean that they couldn't still use the room.

"Hermione, this is awesome! I could get use to this!" Parvati teased.

Hermione snorted. "I personally think its ridiculous that the heads get all of this room to themselves. Prefects or team captains should get to use this too!"

"I, personally, am glad that they don't get to" Ginny said. "It would be way to hard to have a girl's night with all the prefects and captains that would be roaming around!"

They all changed into their pajamas, and then plopped down on the floor by the fire.

"You know, I don't think I've ever done this before" Hermione confided. "A Girls night…except at your house Ginny. And those were mostly talks about how Ron was a prat. Nothing like this."

"Lavender and I used to have them on a bimonthly basis. Not going to lie, I kind of miss it" Parvati said with a sigh. Then she cheered up and said "I am thrilled to death that she's gone. I couldn't handle anymore of her drama. Speaking of which, care to fill me in on what she did to Ron? I've just gotten bits and pieces through the rumor mill, and I would really like to hear the full story."

"Long story short, she took advantage of his half asleep state and shoved her tongue down his throat right before she knew I was coming into the common room."

"I knew she played dirty, but I didn't think she would stoop that low!" Parvati was clearly shocked.

"I know, right?"

"What did you do?" Abigail asked, spellbound at the story. Over the past few months she'd heard a lot about the Golden Trio from Seamus.

"Well, I chucked a book at him- hit him too- and then wouldn't talk to him. Ginny had to convince me to at least hear him out. Which I did and we're fine now. I just wish Lavender would leave us alone."

"And it's not like she wants to be with Ron" Parvati added. "I think it's more of a 'I'm not happy so no one else can be either' sort of thing. I know things have been tough on her since Greyback attacked her. She's not a werewolf, but the scars have been hard for her to deal with. She's rather vain- quite proud of her looks. And know they're gone."

"I can't help thinking that it may be what she deserves" Ginny said matter of factly.

"Look at all of the problems she's caused for people!"

"She didn't just try to kiss Ron either. When we were getting ready for bed the night after I'd caught her, she came up to me and said 'At least I've got more action than you have little miss priss'."

"What!" Ginny asked. "She's trying to tell you that she and Ron SLEPT together?"

"Yep!"

"Do you believe her?" Parvati asked.

"I… I don't know. I haven't talked to Ron about it. I didn't want to say anything right away. I needed time to cool down. He would have told me if they had. Right?" Hermione had a look of pure confusion written across her face.

"I hope that he would Hermione. But he's a guy. Who knows. Just ask him… if he likes you as much as he says he does, he'll tell you the truth."

"I'm scared of the truth. What if it's not what I want it to be?"

"That's the hard part about the truth" Abigail said. "Trust me. I know. I had a boyfriend named Will a couple of years ago- we'd been together for over a year. Someone told me that she thought he was cheating on me, but I was afraid of the truth, so I didn't ask him to tell it to me. I wish that I had. Because about two weeks later, I walked in on him in bed with a fifth year. Bad break up. According to him, it was the first time he'd slept with anyone. I just wish now that I would have asked him to tell me the truth earlier. We could have talked about our relationship and figured out what was wrong with it, and decided to end it if we wanted to. I could have had a friend to go through the death of my family with. But because I didn't want to hear the truth, I lost a boyfriend and a friend, in a pretty nasty way, if I might add. Those who are meant to be will find a way to work through it all. Will and I didn't have a strong enough relationship to work through our problems. If you and Ron are meant to be together, it will happen regardless of what the truth is. You just have to trust in that."

"Wow" Ginny said, dumbstruck. "He really cheated on you?"

"Yep. But the past is the past. I hope he's as happy as I am right now. I got over it, found someone better."

"I'm not sure if I would necessarily count Seamus as 'someone better'" Parvati supplied, elbowing Abigail gently in the side. "But I think he's as good as it's going to get!"

"What about you, Luna? We know about Hermione and Ron, and Abigail and Seamus, but what about you? Anyone for you out in the world?"

"Maybe…" Luna said. "I don't know. It's just that he's a pretty good friend of mine, and I don't want to make things weird between us if things don't work out. I don't want to risk our friendship just to see if there's something between us."

"Let me guess: Neville. Am I right?" Ginny asked, watching as Luna blushed crimson.

"Yes" she muttered after a few moments. "I don't think he likes me in that way though."

"Luna, the man can barely speak in coherent sentences when he's around you. You may want to rethink that last sentence."

"You think he likes me?"

"Heck yes!" Abigail said. "I've been here for what? Two days? And I've already noticed that he fancies you. Big time!"

"I don't know, Abigail. What if I do it and it ruins our friendship?"

"Don't live life with a bunch of what-ifs."

"Wow, that's deep" Ginny said seriously.

"My grandmother says to me all the time."

"It's great" Hermione said. "I can't tell you the number of times I've sat in bed at night thinking about the what-ifs. What if Ron and I had started going out a long time ago? What if he hadn't came back last year?"

"Life wouldn't be the same. Who knows. Maybe you and Ron would have broken up and never spoken again."

"Depressing thought!" Parvati said. "You should have seen them when we were younger. Fighting with each other was their way of flirting. It's actually very cute."

The girls sat up until the wee hours of the morning, pondering the ways of the world, and solving all the world's problems.

As they laid down on various couches scattered about the room to sleep, Hermione squirmed impatiently. She still didn't know if she wanted to find out the truth from Ron or not.

"Just do it" she thought tiredly to herself. "It's like Abigail says. If we are meant to be, we'll make it through regardless of what his answer is."

But she was still uneasy. She didn't like not having all the answers.

She awoke the next day after a night of tossing and turning. She needed to talk to Ron. It was the only way she was going to be able to put her mind at ease. The questions was, when?


	23. Hagrid

**This chapter is almost unforgivably short after not posting for a full day. Sorry. This chapter has a little bit of Professor Warwick and a little bit of Hagrid. I epically failed at trying to write his dialect, so I just wrote it normally- you have imaginations. Use them to imagine Hagrid's voice :D**

**I know the last chapter was a bit out of character, but I wanted Hermione to get out of her shell a little bit and have fun. **

**Keep reading and keep reviewing!**

**Oh- For British people out there- I need some terms of endearment for the next chapter. Some ideas would be great!**

**Chapter 23**

Going down to breakfast, she shook the cobwebs from her head. "You're making a big deal out of nothing, Hermione" she told herself. "Lavender lies. There's nothing else too it."

But she couldn't shake the feeling she had in her gut.

She absentmindedly grabbed a piece of toast and kissed Ron good morning.

"Have a nice night last night?" he asked nonchalantly.

"Mmhh" Hermione answered, not looking at him.

"What's wrong?" he immediately answered, knowing her indirect ways of saying that something was bothering her.

"What? Nothing! Why? What makes you think that something's wrong?"

"Never mind then" Ron replied. "Sorry to do this too you, but Ginny and Harry decided that they wanted Quidditch practice this morning. So that leaves you by yourself."

"It's fine" she hastily assured him. "I was thinking about going down to see Hagrid. I feel bad because we haven't been down yet. I'll tell him you two were busy today but you'll be down sometime this week."

"Please do" Harry interjected. "I've missed talking to him."

"Well, I'm going to get going then. Come find me when you get done with practice, okay?"

"Okay" Ron agreed. Then Hermione rose from the table. She meandered up to the common room to grab a sweater to guard against the chilly air, and then left the castle.

Knowing she had plenty of time before Ron and Harry would want her attention, she first walked around the lake, thinking.

"Why Miss Granger! Out enjoying the lovely air, I see" a voice she faintly recognized said behind her. Turning around, she came face to face with Professor Warwick.

"Oh, hello Professor! Lovely day, isn't it?"

"Yes- quite. Why aren't Mr. Weasley and Mr. Potter with you?"

"They had Quidditch practice" she said slowly, wondering why he was asking her in the first place. "Why do you ask?"

"I just thought that they didn't like leaving you unattended. They don't like to leave you on your own, do they?" It came out more as a question than a statement.

"They're protective. We've been through a lot together. If you'll excuse me professor, I have some things I have to do."

"Of course, Miss Granger. Forgive me for taking up so much of this lovely day."

Hermione sighed a sigh of relief. That had been awkward. And uncomfortable. "Why does he care if Ron and Harry don't like me off by myself? I would hope that after all we've been through that they wouldn't want me off on my own!" she thought, a little angrily. "They're allowed to be protective of me!"

She walked off in the direction of Hagrid's cabin, unaware that a pair of squinty black eyes set into a pudgy face was watching her the whole time from behind a tree.

The door was answered on her first knock. "Hello Hagrid!"

"I've been wonderin' when you were gonna come see me" he replied with a fake gruffness, before enveloping her in a hug. "Where's the other two?" he asked, peering over her shoulder as if hoping they would pop out from underneath the invisibility cloak.

"They had Quidditch practice. But they told me to tell you that they would be by to see you this week."

"Yeah, well tell 'em not to be long about it, ya hear? So what alls been happenin'? I heard you were sick o'er the summer. Feelin' better?"

"Who told you about that?" she asked, not recalling putting in any letters to anyone that she'd been sick during the summer.

"Ron" Hagrid replied. "Almost worried himself sick, worrying about ya. And by the way- it's about time if ya catch my drift. Always new it would be you two. Mind you, you would have had to stop fightin' for two seconds."

"We did fight a lot, didn't we. It's strange. We've been back at Hogwarts for what? Two weeks now? We haven't fought at all. Except for the time when Lavender was trying to kiss him to get back at me. I screamed at him for that. But we figured that out a long time ago."

"Watch out for her, that one. Being bit by a werewolf does things to ya that you can't control sometimes. That might be one of hers."

Hermione looked doubtful at that. "I personally think it's just her."

Hagrid stood up and filled her tea cup from the kettle he'd put on the stove to heat when she'd arrived.

"So tell me about your classes" he prompted as he sat back down.

"They're… awful. They're nothing like they used to be, Hagrid. I can't explain it, but nothing seems the same!"

"It's gonna take time, Hermione. You went through a lot last year, what with spending a year on the run, and then fighting that battle. You have to readjust to what life's like when you're not on the run. Have you talked to Harry or Ron about this?"

"Ron" Hermione replied. "He said basically the same thing that you did."

"He can be right smart sometimes" Hagrid said proudly. "Mind you, he can be a bit of a pumpkin head more often than not."

Hermione laughed, and the two finished their tea in comfortable conversation.

Glancing at the clock Hagrid kept on the table, she noticed it was nearly lunch. "I should probably get going" she said a bit reluctantly. "It's about lunch, and practice is about over."

"Allright" Hagrid nodded understandingly. "You tell those two boys to come over as soon as they can, ya hear?"

"I will" she said, before letting herself out.


	24. A talk and a nightmare

**This is the chapter a lot of you have been waiting for! I've gotten a lot of questions asking if Ron and Lavender slept together. All will be revealed duh duh duhhh. Sorry- I'm in a wierd and theatric mood today... I think it's a Halloween enduced sugar high. **

**I do use some quotes directly from DH in this chapter later on, so I should probably say that although I dream daily of actually being the author of Harry Potter, the reality is that JK Rowling created him, his friends, and his world. **

**BTW I don't know if I've said this or not, The Way We Live Now is rated teen for some mild language. And some of that mild language is in this chapter.**

**Keep reading and keep reviewing!**

**Chapter 24**

"Ron, we need to talk. I wanna ask you something." Hermione said that night as she and Ron sat in an empty common room- everyone had gone to bed early in preparation for Monday. She'd made up her mind that if she was going to get anything done in the near future, she needed to talk to him about this sooner or later.

"What's wrong?" Ron immediately asked, having learned from Seamus, based on his extensively failed dating career, that 'we need to talk' was a bad thing.

"I just wanted to ask you… how do I put this… Did you and… Did you and…"

"Just spit it out, Hermione."

"Did you and Lavender ever sleep together?"

Ron's face turned the same shade of red as his hair and sputtered. "What! Hermione, no! Where would you even get the impression that we did? I would have told you if we had!"

"It was something she said. She came up to me the other day and told me that she was sorry for kissing you the other day. She walked off, but she was muttering something about 'At least I got a lot more action than little miss priss is getting'."

" 'Mione, we never did anything more than kissing. And I didn't even want to be doing that a lot of the time. Besides, I'm always wanted my first to be someone special… You."

Hermione reached out and tenderly touched his face before lightly kissing him. "Me too" she said.

They were silent for a moment, and then Hermione said "There's been something else I've been wanting to talk to you about. I made a decision a long time ago. I've not having sex with anyone until I'm married."

Ron looked slightly disappointed but said " 'Mione, that's fine. Whatever you want, I'll do. I'm not going to make you do anything you don't want to do. And if you want to wait, then I'll wait."

"Thank you for understanding."

"Of course." Then he reached out from where he was sitting on the couch and pulled her closer to him so that he could wrap his arms around her.

"I would do anything for you. To make to you happy, to keep you safe."

"I know you would." Without realizing it, she rubbed at the scar on her throat, a constant reminder of her time at Malfoy Manor. He grabbed her hand away and held them tightly.

"I still have nightmares about it" she said a moment later. "And it's not just the pain and terror I felt that make it a nightmare. I can never hear you screaming for me in the cellar. That's what scares me the most. Your voice is what got me through that. Just knowing that you were down there, trying to find a way to get out of there to help me, to keep me safe, got me through the whole ordeal."

"I can still hear your screams in my nightmares" Ron admitted. "And I still feel powerless to do anything when I hear them. Just like I felt that day. You needed me and I could do nothing to help you." He choked up a little bit. "I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't…"

Hermione knowing what he was trying to say, snuggled into him, relishing in the warmth and comfort she felt as his arms encompassed her. He held her tight, never wanting to let her go.

"I wouldn't have gotten out of that house alive if it hadn't been for you" Hermione said, tears freely dripping down her face, as she relived moments of that horrible night. He pressed a kiss onto her head and rubbed her back gently as she buried her face in his shirt.

Her tears gradually slowed and pretty soon she looked up.

"What would I do without you, 'Mione?" he asked gently before kissing her lovingly on the lips. "What would I do without you?"

"_What are you doing?" Ron asked, turning to Hermione._

"_What do you mean, Ron?" _

"_Are you staying, or what?"  
>"I… Yes- yes I'm staying."<br>"Oh, I get it. You choose him."  
>"No! Ron! RON!" He was gone. She sat down on a boulder and began to cry.<em>

"No… Ron!" Hermione mumbled in her sleep. "Don't go! Don't leave me!"

"_Wait" Bellatrix said with a cold sense of delight in her voice. "All except… except for the Mudblood."_

_Greyback grunted in delight and pleasure._

_She tried desperately to cling to Ron's hands, his shirt, anything that would stop them from taking her. But it didn't work._

"_No!" Ron shouted from beside her as Bellatrix approached them. "Take me! Keep me!"_

_Then she felt a shooting pain echoing through her skull as she was pulled by her hair to the center of the room. She closed her eyes, not wanting the last thing she saw in her life to be the two most important people in her life being led away from her, perhaps forever. The last thing she saw was the fear in Ron's eyes as he was pushed out the door._

"_Now then, Miss Mudblood. It's time to have some fun. What do you say to that?" _

_Hermione kept her eyes downcast, taking a deep breath. "Potions ingredients, Hermione. Think!"_

"_CRUCIO!" Bellatrix bellowed, laughing maliciously as she screamed in pain and crumpled onto the floor. Faintly, as if through a fog, she heard someone calling her name. As quickly as the pain had came, it stopped._

"_That was just a warm-up honey" Bellatrix purred. "And once I'm done with you, you're going to Greyback. And I move on to ginger downstairs."  
><em>

"_NO!" Hermione thought. "Not Ron!"_

_Then another wave of pain washed over her. She heard her name again… and again. It was Ron. She felt a brief second of hopefulness, but it was gone by the time it'd registered in her head what it was._

_Pain came to her over and over again, and Hermione curled into a ball, trying to find someway to make it go away. But it just made it worse. And once she was in a position, she was stuck there. _

"_Where did you get this sword?" Bellatrix suddenly asked, hovering in Hermione's face. _

"_Tell me, or I'll run you through with this knife!"  
><em>

_Pain came and then subsided. "We didn't take it! It's a fake!" she screamed, thinking only of trying to keep Ron and Harry safe. "We didn't take anything!"_

"Hermione! Wake up! Mione! Wake up!" Someone was desperately shaking her shoulders. She sat up and saw a ginger haired figure, which, upon closer inspection, turned out to be Ron. Sighing with relief, she leaned her forehead on his chest, and burst into tears. He wrapped his arms protectively around her, as if to shield her from any danger.

"Thank you" he mouthed over her head to Ginny, who'd woken him at the first sign of Hermione's nightmare, knowing that he would be the only one able to calm her fears.

Looking around, he noticed that only Ginny had been awakened by Hermione's screams- Parvati, Abby, and Lavender all had their soundproof curtains drawn around their beds and were sleeping peacefully.

Ginny, to give them privacy, drew the curtains around her bed.

He began to rub circles onto her back, listening as her sobs slowly subsided.

"What was it?" he asked quietly.

"Bellatrix. I was back at the Malfoy Manor." Ron continued rubbing her back, feeling Hermione's shoulder muscles begin to un-tense. She felt him start to shake slightly as a wave of anger came over him. It was an instant reaction for him whenever he thought about what Bellatrix had done to her.

"She's gone. She's not going to hurt you anymore. And I wouldn't let her even if she could" he whispered reassuringly.

"I know" Hermione said timidly. "Will you stay here tonight? I just know that I'm going to pick up the dream right where I left off. With you at least I would have someone to tell me it was only a dream."

"If you want me to I will" he answered, as she laid back down.

"Thank you" she replied, drying her face on her sleeve. He stretched out beside her, and pulled the covers over both of them. She nestled her head into his chest and in seconds he was asleep.

He on the other hand, wasn't able to sleep for a spell. "I could kill that bitch myself for what she did to her!" he thought angrily about Bellatrix.

Hermione groaned a little in her sleep, and pressed her face deeper into his chest. Ron watched her, wondering if she could be anymore beautiful than she was at that moment. "I wonder what it would be like to wake up with her in my arms every morning for the rest of my life? Like I'd died and gone to heaven, I reckon." It was a feeling he could get used to. Because at that moment, with Hermione snuggled into his arms, he got a glimpse of true happiness.

**I'm sorry if that first part was a bit akward... I've never actually had a conversation like the one Hermione and Ron had reguarding his non-existent nighttime activities with Lavender. If you have any ideas about how to make it better, I'll fix it and repost.**


	25. The Threat of Detention

**Wow- you guys REALLY liked the last chapter! Good to know! When I started publishing this story, I had over twenty chapters saved on my laptop, with another fifty pages of stuff that's going to be later in the book. I have the entire end written, and it's going to be at least ten chapters long. Sad to say, I'm caught up with those twenty some already written chapters, so I'm probably not going to be updating as frequently. It all depends on how much homework the teachers decide to give me in these next couple days. Keep watching- I promise I'll update as soon as I can. I want to know what happens myself!**

**Keep reading and keep reviewing!**

**Chapter 25**

Hermione made her way to Transfiguration, rushing in a measure to avoid being late. She'd stayed late in Arithmancy to ask Professor Vector a couple of questions- now she was almost late to Transfiguration. Unfortunately for her, Professor Warwick had an unusually strict tardy policy- detention for anyone who came in late. No ifs ands or buts.

The bell rang to signal the beginning of the class hour. "Bloody hell" Hermione muttered. "I should have gotten that pass from Professor Vector."

"Miss Granger" Professor Warwick said as she nervously ventured into the Transfiguration classroom not even a minute late. "So nice of you to join us."

"I'm sorry I'm late, Professor. I stayed for some help in Arithmancy."

"I'm sorry to say, Miss Granger, that you are not going to be an exception to my rule. You will receive a note detailing the time and place of your detention shortly."

The whole class gasped. Hermione had only gotten detention once before, in her first year.

"Yes sir" she sighed as she sat at her desk next to Ron. He squeezed her hand reassuringly and whispered "Talk to him after class. See if he can talk to Professor Vector and see that you really were getting some extra help."

She nodded and turned her attention towards the lesson.

"Today" Professor Warwick began in a nasally voice "we are going to try turning furniture into animals. We'll start small today, turning floor lamps into flamingos. Now remember, like we were going over yesterday, the spell is _Novo Sipellis. _Everyone grab a lamp and get started."

"Where were you?" Harry asked Hermione as they went up to the front of the room to get lamps for themselves, Ginny, and Ron.

"I had a few questions in Arithmancy and I stayed behind to get them answered. I guess I stayed a little too late. I thought I could make it before class started."

"Talk to Vector. Have him tell Warwick why you were late."

"I am. I'm going to go up after class, before lunch."

"And even if he won't, it's detention, Hermione. Not the end of the world."

She hadn't even voiced her fear of detention. "Haha, very funny Harry. I don't care if I get detention."

"Yeah right. You are lying, Hermione Jean Granger!"

"I am not Harry James Potter!" she quickly shot back. "What's so bad about detention? Besides the fact that I haven't had one since first year?"

"Based on my limited experience, it's not so much doing the detention, it's the wait leading up to the detention that's the punishment."

"You are so full of it" Hermione said, smirking. "Limited experience- that's a good one Harry! I think the only people in this school that have a larger detention record than you are Fred and George, and the Mauraders."

"Quite possibly."

"I forgot to ask… have you heard back from your cousin yet?"

"I have, actually. He wants to come and meet you all. He sounds pretty excited. I guess my uncle almost had a heart attack when he told them though."

Hermione laughed. "Well, good for your cousin. At least he's being the bigger person in all of this. Your uncle will come around eventually, Harry."

"I seriously doubt it. But whatever. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt."

"We should probably bring these back, huh?" Hermione asked, realizing that she and Harry had been standing at the front of the room talking for the past five minutes.

"Probably" he said.

They returned to Ron and Ginny.

"Took you two long enough" Ron said grumpily.

"Oh, lighten up. Since when have you actually wanted to do the stuff we're assigned to do in class?" Harry asked. "You haven't for as long as I've known you. And I seriously doubt that you had a complete personality change in the past five minutes."

"Haha. Funny" Ron replied flatly.

"What's your problem today?" Ginny asked, elbowing him in the side. "You've been moodier than a pregnant woman all day!"

"I have not!" Ron cried indignantly as Hermione and Harry burst into laughter. He didn't want to tell anyone, but he was worried about what Hermione had told him about her nightmares. According to what she'd told him when they'd woken up this morning, she had them more often than not. He felt bad that she felt that she had to deal with them on her own. "I just want to get started on this in class so I won't have to practice tonight."

Hermione gave him a look that said "Yeah, whatever, we're going to talk later", which he ignored. But it was impossible to ignore the worried look that possessed her face.

An hour later, Hermione was, no surprise, the only person in the class able to successfully turn her lamp into a flamingo.

"Well done" Warwick said, in a monotone voice. The bell rang, and as students rushed out his squeaky voice was barely heard calling out "Practice tonight students!" Then he turned, sat down at his desk, and began correcting homework papers from another class.

"You three go on without me. I'll be down in a minute."

"You sure?" Ron asked, hoping to be forgiven for his earlier attitude.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I'll see you in a minute."

"Good luck" he replied as he rushed out of the door, doing nothing to contain the fact that he hadn't wanted to stay. Hermione couldn't help but smile as she shook her head.

Warwick looked up. "Miss Granger? Is there something you need?"

"Um… yes there is, professor" she replied nervously as she approached his desk. For the first time, she noticed that his smiling teeth were tinted yellow. "Good thing Mum and Dad can't see that" she thought. "They'd flip!"

"Well, what is it? Spit it out!"

"Is it at all possible for you to talk to Professor Vector about why I stayed after class today? I feel it's unfair for me to get detention for getting a little bit of extra help in a class. Other teachers have allowed it on occasion."

Professor Warwick looked thoughtfully up at her for a moment, smiled, and then said "No, Miss Granger, I don't think this is possible. In my limited experience as a teacher, I've found that when you say something, you must carry through with it. Could you imagine the other students, if they found out that you didn't have detention because of the reason you say? They would all be 'staying behind for extra help' and arriving late for my class. No, Miss Granger, I think it would be best for you to do your detention. And it will, after all, teach you a lesson. Don't come late to my class without a note. If you haven't noticed, I'm not like other teachers. I'm not going to place the Golden Trio on a pedestal. Is that clear?"

"I… yes professor" she said miserably. "I apologize for taking up your time. I'd better get to lunch."

Then she turned on her heels and calmly walked out the door. Inside, she was fuming.

"It's not even possible for him to talk to Vector and then warn me to have a note next time? And who said that me or Harry or Ron ever asked for special treatment?"

She stopped into the loo for a moment to splash water on her burning face. Looking in her reflection in the mirror, she had another thought. "According to McGonagall, he's been teaching since he got out of school. And he's at least thirty five, probably older. So why did he say in his 'limited experience as a teacher'? I hardly think that qualifies as limited."

She dismissed the thought, and headed to lunch.

"Well? How'd it go?" Ron asked, pushing a plate of steaming hot food he'd saved at her.

"I have to do it. He basically said that he wanted to use me to set an example for the other students so they see what happens when they are late to his class, and that he wasn't going to place any of us on a pedestal because of what we did! Since when did we ask for special treatment!"

"We haven't Mione. Calm down" Harry said calmingly. "So he won't talk to Professor Vector?"

"Nope."

"Cheer up, Mione" Ron said. "Detention's not that bad. Trust me."

"And me" Harry piped in.

"And me" –Ginny.

"I know. I'm just upset because of the reason he's giving me detention. Any other teacher would have told me to get a note next time and thought nothing more of it!"

"Nothing you can do about it know. What's done is done" Harry said. "Besides- you've never had much practice at detention. And aren't you always saying that practice makes perfect?"

**I'm getting a lot of requests for more Ginny/Harry stuff. If anyone has ideas, I'll be glad to work with them. I just can't think of anything good to put in for them. Also, anyone have any ideas for what Hermione should do for her detention? I haven't thought of anything yet.**


	26. An Evening Without Hermione

**Here's the next chapter. Please dont send me a nasty review when you hear this, but the next chapter will not be posted until Friday night. I have a home football game on a Thursday night (and it's suppose to pour rain and possibly snow) that my marching band has to play and do a half time show at. And I, as band equipment manager, have to put out all of our marching band uniforms, and then put them away after we're done. And on top of all that, I have at least two tests that I have to study for. So I don't see any possible way for me to post. I'm barely going to have time to do my homework!**

**Thank you for all of the reviews people have been giving. They've all been extremly positive and helpful, and it made me feel like Christmas had came early when I saw that I had over fifty reviews!  
>Keep reading and keep reviewing!<strong>

Chapter 26

The next morning at breakfast, Hermione's detention notice was delivered by one of the school's tawny brown owls.

_Miss Granger:  
>You're detention has been scheduled for tonight, as previously discussed. Please come to my office at seven o'clock sharp prepared with a quill. You will be helping me to grade papers from other classes as well as helping me do some research on a subject I wish to learn more about. <em>

_Professor Warwick_

Ron read the notice over her shoulder. "That shouldn't be too bad! You're getting off easy!"

"No, it won't be too bad" Hermione said. "At least it's something that I do for you and Harry on a regular basis."

"Exactly. Just keep that mindset and you're good to go. And just keep thinking about all of the horrible things Harry and I have done in detention."

The bell rang, signaling that the students had seven minutes to get to class.

"We should go. I really don't want another detention added onto this one for being late for Warwick's again. I wouldn't put it past him."

"Whatever you say, Mione" Ron joked, picking up her heavy book bag that was crammed to capacity. "Blimey! What do you have in this thing?"

"What I have in it every day, Ronald. You don't have to carry it, you know. I'm perfectly capable of carrying around my own books."

"Hermione, if I let you tote this thing around everyday, you'd have back problems by the time you were twenty!"

"Well then, thank you for being concerned for my well being" Hermione said with a smile.

"Wait! I need a better thank you than that! This thing weighs at least fifty pounds!"

"Oh?" Hermione feigned confusion. "What would that be?"

"Guess" Ron said, playing along.

She kissed him chastely on the cheek. "That?"

"Getting warmer."

"Okay, how's this?" she asked, sliding her arms around his neck and kissing him on the mouth.

"You're welcome. If that is my thank you, I will gladly carry your books every day. Now let's get to class."

They set off through the castle at a fairly fast pace, holding hands.

Although she knew it wasn't that big of a deal, Hermione was dreading her detention. The day ticked by quickly, her dread growing with each passed hour. Finally, at a quarter to seven, she stood from her normal spot in the common room and announced "I should be going."

Ron, Harry, and Ginny looked up. "Hermione, relax a little" Ron said exasperatedly. "It's just detention. And yours is something you are going to actually enjoy doing. Remember: it's good to live a little!"

"It's still going on my record, Ronald!"

"Yeah, well, look on the bright side. Your record's no where near as tarnished as Harry and I's."

"I don't care" she grumbled.

"Just go get it over with. See you later" Ron replied, taking her hand and walking her to the common room door. He stood just inside the hole, watching her figure moving down the corridor until the portrait hole slammed shut.

"Don't tell her I told you this" Harry said as Ron came and sat down, "but I couldn't wait for her to leave!"

Ginny smacked his arm and stood up. "I'm so going to tell!"

"What! No! Ginny!"

"What'll you give me Potter?" Ginny asked, dancing just shy of his arms, which were reaching out to grab her.

He finally reached her, and, totally oblivious to Ron, pulled her down onto his lap. Then he kissed her deeply, running his fingers through her flaming hair.

Ron cleared his throat, and the couple broke apart hurriedly, with looks of embarrassment on their faces.

"Sorry mate" Harry said apologetically.

"No your not" Ginny interrupted. "He's going to have to get used to it, Harry. Besides- what about him and Hermione? It was cute the first couple times we walked in on them snogging on the couch. But now? Not so much."

"It's my best mate snogging my sister! In what universe is that allowed?"

"The same could be said for you mate? Hermione's not technically my sister, but she's as close as it's going to get."

"It's still weird" Ron muttered. "Fancy a chess match, Harry?"

"Sure" Harry replied.

"Don't mind me, boys. I wasn't planning on having a nice evening studying with my boyfriend. Go right ahead and play your little game. I'll just go curl up in the corner by myself."

"Thanks, Gin" both the boys answered, not looking up from the chess set they were hurriedly set up.

On her way to her favorite armchair in front of the fire, Ginny reached out and hit them both over the heads.

"Love you too, dear" Harry called out after her. Ron nearly choked. "What?" Harry asked, sitting down on his side of the chess board. "It's your move."

"Did you just say the 'L' word to my sister?"

"Yeah- I've been saying it for a long time. Just not in front of you. Why? You haven't said it to Hermione?"

"No… my mum always told me to be completely sure before I said the 'L' word to a girl… to make sure I really meant it. And I intend to do that. I want to be ready to marry her before I tell her- I can't believe mum hasn't sat you down and talked to you about this!"

"She did a couple years ago" Harry said absentmindedly. "I decided that I was ready to tell Ginny that I loved her, and that I truly meant it, and that I can't imagine spending my life with anyone else."

"Harry, you're scaring me. You and my sister aren't getting… getting…?"

"No!" Harry cried. "Out of school first Ron. And with jobs preferably."

"Ok- making sure."

They continued on with their chess game with minimal conversation. And the game after that. And the game after that. Ron was glad to say that he won all three. Only then did he look up at the clock, and notice that it was after eleven.

"Hermione should be back soon" he muttered. And no sooner were the words out of his mouth, Hermione stormed into the common room, an tearful glare etched onto her face.

"I take it detention didn't go well?" Ron asked.

"No, it bloody well did not! It was awful!" she snapped, storming around him and plopping onto the couch.

"What happened?" he asked. "Talk to me. It'll make you feel better."

"Gladly."

**What did Hermione have to do at detention? Find out on Friday. I PROMISE it will be up then!**


	27. Detention and Death Eaters

**I know, I know. I didn't post last night. I have a really old finicky laptop that has to be plugged in 24-7 if it's going to power up. And the cord has to be in just the right place, othewise it starts loosing battery. Every single time I tried to turn my computer on last night, my knee would barely move the chord and it would start loosing my battery. And I tried at least five times to get the stupid thing to work. I wrote out the chapter the old fashioned way and then typed it up just now. And I'm going to try to have another chapter up tonight if at all possible.**

**In this chapter, we find out about Hermione's detention with Warwick. What do you think about him? I really want to know. When I picture him in my head, I think of a math teacher at my school. I don't know why... I just do.**

**Keep reading and keep reviewing!**

Chapter 27

They sat down on the couch together, and were joined a minute later by a concerned looking Harry and Ginny.

"Detention didn't go well?" Ginny asked, patting Hermione knowingly on the shoulder.

"It was awful!" Hermione sniffed.

"Give us a play by play" Harry suggested.

"Alright. Well, I walked into detention…"

**Flashback to during detention from Hermione's POV**

"Come in Miss Granger" Warwick's voice called out in response to her knock.

She stepped inside his office. She'd been in the Defense Against the Dark Arts office every year since she stepped foot in Hogwarts, and each time the room was different. This time, the walls were mostly empty, except for a few family portraits, a Puddlemere United Quidditch poster, and a piece of art from a muggle artist depicting a countryside. A sneakascope stood on Warwick's desk.

Hermione caught something out of the corner of her eye. Why was she here? She was dead! "It can't be her! It can't be!" she repeated to herself as she came face to face with a sneering and glaring cutout of Bellatrix Lestrange that looked to have come out of the Dailey Prophet.

"Anything wrong, Miss Granger?" Warwick asked, barely glancing up from his work. "Oh, yes. Bellatrix Lestrange" he said, seeing what she was gaping at. "While I never admired what she did for a living, I certainly thought that she was extremely pretty. We went to school together, you know. Dated for a few weeks in sixth year, too. Charming woman. Absolutely charming. I always found it a shame that we lost contact."

"Absolute shame" Hermione muttered, closing her eyes. Her fingers went up to the scars on her neck, out of habit. They seemed to almost hurt whenever Bellatrix's name was mentioned. "Um, can we get started Professor?"

"Ah, yes, certainly. I myself have always been rather interested in the muggle subject of psychology. You know it, I presume?" Hermione nodded her head. "Excellent. Well, I've been curious for some time about the fascination Death Eaters have with doing what they do. I borrowed these notes from an old friend of mine and they, unfortunately, are needed back in his possession by tomorrow. I would like you to copy them down for me. You may leave once you have finished."

Hermione glanced at the papers he'd handed her, and stifled a gasp. The title written on the first page was "Dark and Dangerous Witches and Wizards of the late 20th and 21st Centuries".

"You will find a great amount of information on Death Eaters in those papers. I have, unfortunately, not had the time to pursue them in depth myself. There is a desk for you, over there."

He pointed to a desk in the corner, in the direct line of sight of Bellatrix's newspaper picture.

She did as she was told, and sat down. Preparing a quill and a piece of parchment, she looked at the first page. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. She turned to the next page. Flipping through each of the pages, in a state of shock, she saw that the papers were biographies- of Death Eaters.

She was shaking slightly as she took up her quill and began to write.

"This is wrong" she thought to herself. "The knowledge of what these people did shouldn't be passed on."

Many of the names were familiar- names like Carrow, Lestrange, Dolohov- but even more of them were unrecognizable to her.

One of them, a man named Osmund Heyfine, had murdered his wife and two young children before joining up with Voldemort at the Malfoy Manor. After that, he'd tortured and raped female muggle borns who'd refused to register.

Hermione felt sick to her stomach every time she came to a Death Eater she'd encountered. It was bad enough reading about those she'd never met, but reading about those who'd threatened and hurt her wizarding family and friends was even worse.

She'd been at it for an hour, five pages in, when she'd came to the section detailing the deeds of Fenrir Greyback.

She could still hear his voice in the Malfoy Manor, telling her exactly what he was going to do once Bellatrix was done with her.

"We're going to have some fun, sweetheart" he'd murmured to her, groping her breast and running his tongue along her cheek. "And not in the way Bella likes to have it."

He'd done just what he'd threatened her with to countless girls- within a thirty mile radius of where her home was in Muggle London. And that was before last year, when he'd had free reign with Muggle Borns.

"So close to home" she shuddered. "For the first time, I'm truly glad I went to Ron's for vacation more than I went home." Her quill stopped moving across the page, bringing eerie silence to the room.

"Keep on it, Miss Granger. This is a punishment, not writing in your diary."

"I'm sorry, professor" she said dully, thinking "get it over with. Just get it over with. Then you can go back to Ron and Harry and Ginny and forget about this."

Reading about Bellatrix was even worse than Greyback. Hermione had known about the torture of Neville's parents, but Bellatrix had tortured at least ten other people into insanity. She had just killed them afterwards. She had tortured hundreds of others, like she had Hermione. Some had been for information, others had been merely for fun. Many ended with a death.

As Bellatrix's face leered down at her, Hermione brushed tears away from her face, as memories continued to flood back. Hermione's hand automatically went up to rub the scar on her throat placed there by the knife that had killed Dobby.

Finally, after nearly twenty pages of the horrific material had been recorded, Hermione put down her quill and stood.

"Done Miss Granger?"

"Yes sir. May I go now?"

"Yes. But tell no one of this. Your detention wasn't sent into the head mistress' office, meaning it will not go on your record. Many of my colleagues would not…agree….with the research I'm doing. So we are going to keep this between us, alright? I will know if you tell anyone. Is that clear?"

"Is that a threat, sir?" Hermione asked, sarcasm dripping from the last word. She felt her resentment for this teacher growing into hatred.

"It is merely a warning, Miss Granger. For your safety, and for the safety of your friends. You may go now."

She opened his door and was gone in an instant.

* * *

><p>"Oh my God" Ron sighed, pulling Hermione into his arms for a tight hug. "I am so sorry! You shouldn't have had to do that. Not after what happened at the Manor."<p>

"I don't care what he threatened you with" Harry added. "I'm reporting this to McGonagall."

"No!" Hermione cried. "As long as I'm the only person he's gave this punishment to, leave it. I couldn't forgive myself if anything happened to you three!"

"That detention… if you can even call it that, Hermione, qualifies as cruel and unusual punishment! In the muggle world, Warwick could be arrested!" Harry protested.

"Well it's not the muggle world. Just drop it, okay?" Hermione snapped. "Just tell me something to get my mind off of this. I had to read about too many horrible things tonight."

"Umm…" Ron thought "first Quidditch match of the season is in two weeks. Harry's cousin is coming to Hogsmede on Saturday." He stifled a yawn. "Sorry- I beat Harry three times in a row at chess. It actually takes energy to beat him now."

"It's fine. I'm going to go to bed" Hermione replied.

"Are you going to be all right?" Ron asked, thinking back to her nightmares a couple days ago.

"I'll be fine, Ron" she replied. "If I need you, I know where you are, alright?"

"Okay" he agreed, somewhat reluctantly. "I don't want you to think you have to go through this alone. Because you don't, okay?"

"I don't think that, Ron. I'll find you if I need you." Then she kissed him for a long moment, and whispered "I promise. Night."

Then she strode up the steps to the girl's dormitory calling over her shoulder " 'Night Harry, Ginny" as she went.

"Right behind you" Ginny called back. Ron grabbed his sister's arm.

"Watch out for her tonight, okay Gin?"

"I always do."

By the time Ginny was ready for bed, Hermione was already in her bed, with her curtains drawn.

Ginny quickly slipped off to sleep, unknown to her that the girl in the bed next to hers had placed extra silencing charms around her bed and was now shedding silent tears while lying in it.

**Let me know what you thought. Again, I'll try to post again tonight. **


	28. Please?

**This is officially the shortest chapter I've ever wrote. But, I punched it out in twenty minutes. I promised another chapter, and here it is. I've decided that writing a chapter and posting everyday isn't going to work for me anymore. I'm going to write the chapters during the week the old fashioned way, type them up on Friday, and post whatever I have written on either Friday or Saturday. Please don't bombard me with rotten tomatoes. Just this week, I have something everynight school related except Friday. And that's only because it's Veterans Day. I'm busy- it's that simple.**

**I've hit 61 reviews. I'm pretty proud of that... My goal by the end of this story is 100 reviews. I have no clue when the end of this story will be, but I'm going to assume that it's not going to end for quite a while.  
><strong>

**Keep reading and keep reviewing!**

Chapter 28

"No offense, but you look awful!" Ginny said as Hermione pulled back the curtains on her bed the next morning.

"Good morning to you too" Hermione grumbled, rubbing her stiff neck and yawning.

"Did you get any sleep?"

"Not really" Hermione admitted. "Don't tell Ron. I don't want him to worry. He has enough to deal with without worrying about me."

"Hermione, he wants to worry about you. You're his girlfriend. It comes with the territory. How many nightmares did you have last night? I know you had them. Admit it!"

"Too many to count. It was awful- I kept reliving Malfoy Manor over and over again."

"I'm sorry" Ginny said sympathetically. "You should have gotten me or Ron! He's worried about you, Hermione."

"Me? Why?"

"Because you're trying too hard to be the strong one of the group. Pretty soon you're going to crack. He's worried he's not going to be there when that moment comes."

"He doesn't have to worry!" Hermione protested. "I'm fine! I'm not a delicate porcelain doll that cracks under the tiniest bit of pressure!"

"Hermione, just accept it. You can't be strong all of the time. We don't want you to be."

"I have to be" Hermione almost whispered. "For Harry- he's done so much and lost so many people he cares about. And for Ron. And for you."

"We can handle it, Hermione" Ginny said, sitting next to Hermione on the bed. "We can handle it. Just accept that we can handle it ourselves, and for once in your life just worry about you!"

"I'll try" Hermione hiccupped.

"Come on. You look awful. Come splash some water on your face, and then get in the shower. You'll feel better."

A half an hour later, Hermione arrived downstairs in the common room, her hair still dripping, but her face no longer red and puffy. She spotted Ron standing in a corner, talking to Ginny. When she saw Hermione, Ginny sullenly sulked away to find Harry, shooting an apologetic glance at her.

"Why didn't you get me last night?" Ron demanded, firmly but gently as he placed his strong hands on her shoulders. "I want to be there for you, Mione. You know that."

"I… I don't know. You've been through so much. It just seems unfair that you have to worry about me too."

"It's not unfair. You've been there for me more times than I can count. I don't know what I would have done without you sometimes. I really don't, Hermione. You were there for me. Let me be there for you. Please!"

"Alright. I'm sorry I didn't have Ginny get you last night. I promise, if I ever need you, I'll find you. Happy?"

"Yes. How bad were they last night? The nightmares, I mean."

"Horrible" Hermione admitted. "Bellatrix and Greyback over and over again. And you leaving. And thinking that you were dead in the explosion. And Harry dead. And… and…"

She burst into tears. Ron quickly gathered her into his arms and began stroking her hair.

"Why me?" she sobbed. "Why is it all happening to me? When will it all stop?"

"We survived, Hermione. That's why it's happening. It will stop eventually. It's going to take time. But I promise. One day, it's going to stop."

She cried in his chest for a couple more moments, feeling her tears soak his shirt. Then she pulled away and wiped her eyes. "You're right. We survived, and we'll survive the remembering process. God, I've been such a mess lately."

"No you haven't" Ron assured her. "You've just been a little bit more in touch with your feminine side, that's all."

She weakly smiled at his joke. "I'm serious. From now on, I'm strong. I'm going to get through this. And you're going to be right there with me."

"Yes I am."

**Not my best, I know. But it works. It's fluffy. See you next week!**


	29. Days of the Week and a Telling Off

**I'm back and I've missed you guys! Thank you for your continued reading and reviews. I'm going to post another chapter in a couple of minutes, and then at least one more chapter tomorrow. I've been really busy, so I haven't had a lot of time to do any sort of writing this week.**

**On another note, I'm up to 93 reviews. If we can hit 100 by next week, I might try to add an extra chapter, or something. Just a thought!**

**This chapter has a little to a lot of Hermione/Ron fluff depending on the way you look at it. Either way, I thought it was kind of cute!**

**Keep reading and keep reviewing!**

Chapter 29

"Now that we've gotten that over with" Ron said, lightly rubbing Hermione's back just above her waist, "let's go have some fun! Hogsmede!"

"What are you talking about, Ron? It's Friday!" Hermione asked.

"Do I for once know something the lovely Hermione Jean Granger doesn't? It's Saturday!"

Hermione mentally went through each day of her week in her mind.

"It can't be Saturday!" she declared to him. "Monday we did antidotes in potions, Tuesday was Herbology and Charms, Wednesday was transfiguration and Defense Against the Dark Arts, Thursday I got detention for being late, Friday I…"

"Did detention" Ron finished for her. "Which means that today is Saturday."

"Ugh- I hate it when you're right" Hermione muttered. "You act all smug."

"Jealousy isn't a becoming characteristic, Miss Granger" Ron teased.

"Neither is smugness, Mister Weasley!"

"Are you two coming down to breakfast, or should I just leave you to your forthcoming snog fest?" Ginny asked moodily. "Because I need to know if I should leave now, so as to still have a stomach for breakfast."

"Lovely as always" Ron whispered to Hermione. "She always was like this in the mornings. Especially when her clock would happen to go off at six on the weekends. I have no clue why, though."

"I really wonder about you sometimes" Hermione said with a laugh. "I'm starving. We'll be down in a minute, Ginny."

"I'm hungry too" Ron said, his ears perking up like a dog's at the mention of food.

"Well, then, can we go?" Ginny grumpily asked. "I told Harry I'd meet him downstairs at eight thirty- it's already five minutes after that. He's nervous enough about his cousin today. So let's go!"

"We're going! We're going!" Ron held up his hands, one of which was entwined with Hermione's, in the air as a signal of surrender.

"I was just about to see if you were coming" Harry said as they joined him five minutes later."

"Sorry, love. Someone" Ginny shot a nasty look at Ron "wouldn't stop arguing with his girlfriend." She slid in next to Harry. "What time are you going to get your cousin?"

"I told him to be ready at nine thirty. I'm going to leave in a half an hour-ish – I want to see how my aunt's doing."

"You sure about this mate?" Ron asked as he filled his plate.

"Too late to turn back now" Harry replied.

"It's going to be fine" Hermione assured him. Then she groaned, just audible to her three friends. "It's him" she whispered. "He won't stop staring at me."

"Ignore it" Ron advised.

"I'm trying, Ronald. But it's kind of hard to ignore his creepy black eyes boring a hole through me!"

"Switch me spots" Harry said, standing. "You'll be out of his line of sight."

They did so, but a minute later, she felt the eyes on her again.

"Bloody Hell" she thought, turning around. "Bloody Hell!" she said again, out loud this time. "He's coming!"

"Miss Granger! Sleep well?" Warwick asked as she took a piece of toast and molded it into a ball in her hand under the table.

"Perfectly. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason. I just wanted to thank you for the research you helped me with last night. I'm sure it will be most beneficial. And I just wanted to _remind you_that this is top secret information, so it would be wise to keep it to yourself."

"Yessir" Hermione began before Harry interrupted.

"Oh! Look at the time! I have to get going if I'm going to get my cousin on time!"

"Thank you" Hermione mouthed at him.

"Yes!" Ron added, catching on. "We need to go too, Mione. You said you wanted to get Dudley something from Honey Dukes before he got here, right? We should get going if you want to get that done."

"Yes, right. Good morning, Professor" Hermione said, striding quickly after the room after Harry.

"That was officially creepy" Ginny said with a shudder as they stood in the Entrance Hall.

"That bloody bastard knew what his so called 'research' would do to you!" Ron snarled, suddenly trying to reenter the Great Hall.

"Ronald! No!" Hermione whimpered. "Not to a teacher!"

"Please, Mione?"

"No!"

"Where's Malfoy when you need him?" Ron mumbled under his breath to Harry.

"Ron" Hermione warned "let it go. Let me grab my coat from the common room, and then we can head to Hogsemede, okay? I need some fun."

Ten minutes later, the foursome was trooping across the bridge that led to the village.

"So, shall we all meet at the three broomsticks in, say, an hour and a half?" Harry asked as the first houses of Hogsmede appeared before them in the distance.

"That sounds good. I'm going to run to Zonko's- George wants me to see if it would be worth trying to buy it. The owner's starting to get on in his years" Ginny said. "And then I have some other errands I have to run."

"Okay, well Mione and I will meet you both in an hour and a half."

"Okay, see you then" Harry replied.

Ginny managed to call out "Good luck!" before he turned on the spot and vanished.

"Well, I'm off. Behave yourselves" Ginny said, strolling away from Ron and Hermione.

"Alone at last" Ron casually said as he looped an arm around her waist. "What do you want to do? You don't want to get anything for Dudley, do you?"

"No- we can bring him to the shops later- why? What did you have in mind?"

"What would you say to a visit to the Shrieking Shack? Remember sitting outside of it third year- the time Harry snuck into Hogsmede and almost got caught?"

"How could I forget" Hermione smiled. "Let's go, Weasley."

"After you, Granger."

Hand in hand, they walked through the still fairly empty streets of Hogsmede, until they came to the end of the main road. They took a right, and were soon standing in front of the dilapidated building that was their destination.

"Wanna get closer?" Ron teased.

"Question about that. Did you mean to you, or to the building when you asked me that in third year?"

"A little bit of both, I think. I don't really remember."

"Because if you would have clarified, I would have done it."

"Really? Blimey, I should have clarified."

"Well, what did you mean it as just now?"

"A little bit of both."

"Well then…" she took a step towards the Shrieking Shack, and several steps towards him.

She opened her mouth to say something, but stopped and whirled around at the sound of approaching footsteps.

Malfoy came strolling up the path, clutching the hand of someone Hermione vaguely recognized as a Slytherin a few years younger than her.

"Let's go" she said quickly, as she saw the blood rush to Ron's head as a sign of recognition. She tightened her grip on his hand and pulled him towards the main street of Hogsmede.

"Not a word" she muttered to him. "Just shut it or so help me God…"

"Hey Granger! Weaslbee! Where's scarface? Off ruining more lives? Off kissing up to more officials?"

"How dare you!" Hermione asked, turning around to face Draco. "How dare you! He saved your life! He kept you from spending the rest of your miserable life rotting in Azkaban!"

"What do you mean?"

"He wrote a letter to the ministry saying that you had been forced into all of the Death Eater crap! He used his influence to help you!"

"Oh…"

"Do you even appreciate what he did for you, even before the letter? He saved your life twice during the battle! Yes, you thanked him for it, but did you really, truly appreciate it? No! You go right on strutting around like you own the place calling good, caring people whatever you want to! Including my boyfriend! I don't know why I'm yelling at you right now, because honestly, you aren't worth my time. Let's go, Ron."

"Remind me not to get you angry. You get scary" Ron said as he walked off with her.

"That felt good" Hermione admitted a few minutes later, as they walked up the now crowded streets of Hogsmede.

"That was bloody brilliant!"

"What was brilliant?" Ginny asked behind them.

"Hermione lost it on Malfoy."

"What?" cried Ginny in amazement. "Really?"

"Yep" Hermione admitted.

"Wait- you told him that Harry had sent the ministry a letter- when did he do that?"

"He didn't. I made it up. It was something that would make sense, so I figured it might get Draco thinking about at least using our proper names. Although, I must say, he is improving- he didn't call me a Mudblood…"

"Don't call yourself that!" Ron interjected.

"Fine. But what he calls you and Harry- that needs to change. I'm tired of every name that he has for you two being a slur."

"I am too, Mione, but just leave it. He'll mature out of it someday."

"Maybe by the time he's middle aged" Ginny suggested drily. Then she looked at her watch.

"We should probably get going. Harry and his cousin are going to be here in ten minutes."

They walked into the Three Broomsticks, and snagged a table close to the back of the room, away from prying eyes.

"I'll get everyone drinks, yes?" Ron asked enthusiastically.

Hermione rolled her eyes and said "Don't take too long in telling Madame Rosemarta 'hello' for all of us."

"I won't… Hey!"

Hermione laughed. "Just go get some butterbeers, Ron."

"Got it" he said, strolling off towards the bar.

Ginny and Hermione watched his retreating figure.

"How long do you think this is going to take?" Ginny sighed. "Because I'm thirsty. I wonder if it would be faster just to go up and order my own drink."

"Have patience- if he's not back in a couple of minutes, we can go on a reconnaissance mission."

But Ron appeared with three butterbeers a few minutes later.

"What? Rosemarta not in today?"

"No, she was there. Its just that I would rather spend my time looking at Hermione's beautiful face."

"Aww!" Ginny said, miming shock and surprise. "That's so cute Ron! So cute, I don't know whether to smile or to run into the loo and loose my breakfast."

"Haha"

"Well, I thought it was sweet" Hermione defended.

"Thank you" Ron replied.

Ginny rolled her eyes and groaned.

"What? I'm not allowed to tell my girlfriend that she's beautiful?"

"Harry!" Ginny called out, waving eagerly at him and the bulky figure next to him in the pub's doorway.


	30. Butterbeers with Dudley

**Yippee! I made it to 30 chapters! And my computers going to die any minutes, so I just want to say keep reading and reviewing!**

Chapter 30

"Harry!" Ginny called out, waving eagerly at him and the bulky figure next to him in the pub's doorway.

Upon hearing Ginny's voice, Harry made his way back to the table.

"Everything was good then?" Hermione asked, eyes the nervous looking Dudley.

"Yeah, great. Guys, this is Dudley. Dudley, this is Hermione, Ron, and my girlfriend Ginny."

"Hey" Dudley grunted.

"Sit- I'll grab drinks" Harry said motioning at a chair. "They won't bite."

"Sure about that mate? Wait til you hear about what Mione did while you were gone" Ron said.

"Can't wait! I'll be back."

Dudley watched harry go up to the bar, and then looked around the room awkwardly.

"Soo…" Hermione said, trying desperately to find a way to end the awkward silence around them. "What do you do now that you're out of school, Dudley?"

"I'm at the university. I work as a waiter to help Mum and Dad put me through."

"Any thoughts at what you'll do after?"

"Dunno… banking maybe?" It was more a question than an answer.

They lapsed back into silence, and remained that way until Harry came back.

"Here" he said, handing Dudley a butterbeer.

"What is it?"

"Just try it- it's good. So, Hermione, what exactly did you do when I was gone?"

"I may or may not have told Malfoy off."

"I would go with the 'may' part of that" Ron interjected.

"I wish I could have seen it!" Ginny groaned. "I miss all of the good stuff!"

"Well, I missed it too" Harry said comfortingly. "Dudley, you do realize that that's not poisoned, right?"

Dudley took a hesitant sip. "That is good!"

"See! Magic has many advantages- that is one of them. Wait til you see Honeydukes and Zonkos! How did that go, by the way?"

"I'm going to send an owl to George when we get back and tell him to look into buying it- business would be booming if old man Zonko wasn't so, well, old."

"Filch would have a heart attack!" Hermione said. "He has enough problems with one Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Can you imagine another branch… in a place even more accessible to Hogwarts students?"

"What's Wizards Weasley Wheezings?" Dudley asked, a confused look on his face.

"Weasley's Wizard Wheezes- it's a joke shop Ron's brothers started- really popular" Harry replied.

"Wait" Dudley said to Ron "how many siblings do you have?"

"Well, there's Bill and Charlie, and Percy- but he's a big prat so I don't always count him- Fred, George, me and Ginny."

"Which ones started the joke shop?"

"Fred and George. They were twins."

"Were?"

"Fred was killed in the battle" Ron said slowly.

"I'm sorry."

"S'fine."

They drank their butterbeers in silence yet again, watching the crowds of people.

Lavender Brown walked in. Hermione and Ron both groaned, causing Dudley to look at the counter.

"Who's that?" he asked, unable to keep his eyes off of her.

"Lavender Brown" Ginny answered in disgust.

"She's… wow!"

"Dud" Harry said seriously "I know we don't have similar tastes in women, but really?"

"Why? What's wrong with her?"

"You have so much to learn" Ron said. "She's a bloody octopus! I should know- I dated her for six horrible months."

"We're all out of drinks! Shall I go get some more?" Dudley asked suddenly.

Harry knew that it would be best for his cousin to see for himself why they all disliked Lavender, and agreed.

"How do I pay?"

"Oh… here." He handed over a couple of silver sickles. "They should only be a couple of those."

"Right. Got it."

"I'm anxious to see how this works out, quite frankly" Ron said, catching on to Harry's line of thinking.

Dudley, it appeared, had gotten a spot on the bar as close as possible to Lavender. He spoke to Rosemarta for a moment, and then looked back to Lavender. She, in turn, looked him up and down, and then leaned over to grab something from her bag, exposing part of her lower back for him to see as she did so. His eyes bugged.

"I didn't realize that this place had turned into a strip joint" Ginny whispered harshly.

Lavender pretended to have just noticed Dudley's pointed stares, and said in a voice just loud enough for his cousin and friends to hear "Hi there, handsome. Who are you?"

"I'm… I'm…"

Harry came to his rescue. "He's my cousin, and we have to get going. Excuse us."

He led Dudley outside, followed by the remainder of his group.

"See! She's hits on anything that has working opposable thumbs, Dudley!"

"She's beautiful!"

"So is Ginny" Harry argued back "and you aren't flirting with her like mad!"

"Harry!" Ginny warned.

"It's true."

"That girl- Lavender- is just different. I don't know how, but she is."

"Well, for one thing, she happens to be a witch. Could you imagine bringing her home to mummy and daddy?"

Dudley snapped out of his Lavender daydream at the mention of his parents. "Oh… yeah."

"That's what I thought. Besides- she's snogged half of people at this school. And she's not your type. So just forget about her."

Dudley nodded, and was led into Honeydukes, where they all lost themselves in the shelves of merchandise. But try as he might, Dudley couldn't forget the beautiful girl with the scars on her face. He wanted to know her story… and her.


	31. Hospitals

**100 REVIEWS! I'm soo happy! Reviews = love in the fanfiction world, so thank you to all of the people who have been reading and reviewing this story!**

**Glad you all liked the last chapter- especially the possible Dudley/Lavender pairing. It's not even close to cannon, and I'm still toying with the idea, but who knows. I'm going to do something with it, I'm just not positive on what it's going to be yet.**

**Well, keep reading and keep reviewing. I may or may not have another chapter up this weekend. I have the ideas in my head, I just haven't written them out yet. **

Chapter 30

"That went surprisingly well" Harry said as they made their way back up to the castle. He had just left his cousin at home in Little Whinging.

"Yeah, it did" Ron agreed.

After they had left the Three Broomsticks, the group had wandered aimlessly through the shops and streets of Hogsmede, letting Dudley roam to his heart's content. That was how he had discovered his love of chocolate frogs and sugar imps. And Zonkos was declared "beyond cool".

"I would really like to know what he sees in Lavender, though" Ginny said. "I know your cousin isn't the brightest bulb in the box, Harry, but really? Granted, my own brother went out with her, so that's not really saying anything."

"Yeah, well, I fixed my mistake" Ron defended, looking at Hermione for help.

"Don't look at me, Ronald!" Hermione said with a laugh. "I'm a neutral… party." She finished her sentence as she came face to face with Professor McGonagall, who was flushed and out of breath.

"Miss Granger! Thank goodness I found you! I've just had an urgent owl from the ministry. I don't know how to tell you this" she said gently, "but there was a fire in your home. Both of your parents were home at the time, and they are both now in St. Mungos in critical condition."

Hermione let out a cross between a whimper and a moan, and leaned against Ron. Harry came to stand close to her, and placed a steady hand on her shoulder.

"May I… May I see them?"

"Yes, of course" McGonagall replied. "Go right now. If you wish to take any of these three with you, you may. Hurry now! Someone from the ministry will be waiting for you at the entrance."

"Wait! Professor! Was my home… destroyed?"

"I'm afraid so, my dear. I am terribly sorry."

Hermione nodded numbly as McGonagall caringly patted her shoulder, before making her way back up to the castle.

Ron took Hermione's hand and said "let's go- you're parents need you." He saw the doubt in her eyes. "They're fighters, Mione. Just like their daughter. They don't want to leave you in this world- not yet. Be strong, for them."

"Do you want me or Ginny to come?" Harry asked, knowing without question that Ron was going with her.

"No" she said, surprising them all. "Just Ron. They know his best, and I don't want them to wake up in a roomful of people they don't know."

"Okay, that's fine. Owl us if you need anything."

Hermione nodded and took Ron's arm. As soon as he felt her warm arm on his, Ron turned into crushing darkness.

When she opened her eyes, they were standing in the front lobby of the wizarding hospital.

A man in navy blue robes, with a name tag saying 'Hutchinson', strode over and said in a strong voice "Miss Granger?"

"Yes" she whispered in a voice barely audible over the noise of the reception room.

"As Professor McGonagall probably told you, there was a fire at your home- both of your parents were home at the time, and they were both severely burned. Follow me- I'll take you to their room."

She nodded mutely, and frantically tightened her grip on Ron's hand.

"Don't let go. Stay with me" she told him as they wove through the hallways, behind the ministry worker.

"Whatever you want" he replied earnestly. "I'm not going to leave you, or let go. I promise."

She somehow felt reassured by his promise, just knowing that he was always going to be there for her when she needed him.

They came to a stop outside of room 41A. Hermione moved to step inside the dimly lit room, but Hutchinson stopped her.

"What?" Hermione asked. "Let me see my parents!"

"I will in a moment. I just want to warn you. It's not pretty. They were both burned badly, and there is only so much that the healers can do to help speed their recovery. Your mum's been placed in a coma by the healers, but your father has yet to regain consciousness. Try talking to him- remind him what he has to live for. Get a healer if anything changes." Then he softened his stiff demeanor a bit and said "Good luck."

She slowly nodded and took another step towards the door. She hesitated for a moment, and looked at Ron. "Can you give me a minute?"

"I'll be right here if you need me."

Again, she nodded and walked through the door into the bleary, plain hospital room. She let out a gasp when she saw her parents- Hutchinson hadn't been exaggerating when he'd said they'd both been badly burned. Hermione knew that they would both bear the scars for the rest of their lives.

She walked over to a chair next to her mother's bed and sat down, grasping her cold hand tightly.

"Mum? I don't know if you can hear me? It's me- Hermione. Ron's here too, well, he's waiting outside right now. We're going to be here, until you wake up. I love you so much. I know you already know that, but I don't say it nearly as often as I should. Just thought you should know."

Jeanette Rose Granger had always been a fighter. She had been the strong one of the family- Hermione knew that she would make it out of this tragedy.

But her dad, she wasn't so sure. He was never as strong as her mother was. When Jamie had died, he had taken it the hardest.

Hermione moved to sit in a chair next to his bed.

"Daddy? It's me, your baby girl. Your little Mione Jean. Well, not so little now." She let out a teary laugh. "The doctors are saying that it's quite possible that you're going to go into a coma, or… or… But you can't Daddy. I need you. Mum needs you. Our family needs you. I want my Daddy to walk me down the aisle, to hold his grandchildren. Don't let this beat you. Please. I need you!"

Instead of continuing, she began to sob. Ron heard her, and quickly hurried into the room. He grabbed Hermione's hand and pulled her up and onto the small, generic, plastic couch provided with the room.

She sobbed helplessly into his chest as he stroked her hair, his arms comfortingly tight around her shaking body.

A single tear made its way down Ron's nose, followed by another, and another. He wasn't just crying for her parents. He was crying for Hermione- with her.

She refused to leave their room that night. Ron quickly sent McGonagall about Hermione's decision, and then came back into the room.

They, again, curled together, and fell asleep, tears drying on their faces.


	32. Hope and an Offer

**Here's yet another chapter. Hope you like. Read and Review please! On a side note, it's blizzarding right now. Just thought you should know. You should also know that I'm ready to murder mother nature. It's not suppose to snow this early in November. I'm tired, so I'm going to bed as soon as I post this.  
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Chapter 32

Hermione sat up and groaned, unsure at where she was. Then it all came flooding back to her. The fire, her parents.

As if sensing her need for comfort, Ron awoke.

"Morning" she said sadly. "I'm going to find a healer, see if anything changed during the night."

"K- do you want anything to eat?"

"Just a muffin or something and some coffee."

"Wait here- I'll go grab some. I'll be back in a minute."

She turned towards the door, intent on finding a healer, when she heard bed sheets rustling behind her. Whirling around, she saw her father struggling to sit up in his bed.

"Daddy?" she asked, bewildered. "Just stay there. Let me get a healer!"

"Come here first" he said in a hoarse, labored voice.

She did as he asked at once.

"Where am I?" he asked. "Why am I here? Where's your mother?"

"Mum's in the other bed. I'll explain everything to you, but let me have a doctor look at you first."

She ran out of the room and latched onto the sleeve of the first healer she met.

"My father- room 41A just woke up. They thought he was in a coma last night. Just sat up and started talking to me." She was so happy, she was unable to form complete sentences.

"Okay, hon" the healer, a kind eyed middle aged witch said. "Let me send an alert to the healer in charge." She tapped a piece of paper with her wand. "There. Go back to your father, now. The healer will be in soon."

"Thank you" Hermione called, already halfway back to the room where her parents were.

She came to the door at the same time as the healer and Ron.

"He's awake!" she quickly explained to both of them.

"What!" Ron exclaimed as the healer rushed inside and shut the door. "Mione, that's great! Here's your muffin, by the way."

"Thanks." She took it, suddenly famished.

Just as the last bits of the muffin were devoured, the hospital door opened and the healer walked out.

"Well, Miss Granger, your father is certainly a very lucky man. Your mother too. She's been taken out of her coma and will be waking up sometime soon. They're both going to be just fine. They made a remarkably fast recovery in your presence."

"Thank you so much Healer…" she quickly looked at his name tag "Hays. For everything!"

"You're quite welcome. Now go see you parents."

Hermione didn't have to be told twice. With Ron right behind her, she nervously ventured into the room.

"How are you feeling, Dad?"

"I've been better. Care to tell me why I'm here darling?"

"There was a fire. You and Mum were both home, and were badly burned. A group of Aurors saw the fire and brought you here."

"It the house…?"

She nodded solemnly. "I haven't been yet, but based on what I've been told, it's gone."

"Thank goodness you weren't home" he said relieved. "Ronald! Good to see you again, son!"

"Good to see you too, sir. Although I wish it was under different circumstances."

"We can't always get what we want, Ron. But I tend to agree with you on that one." William Hugo Granger smiled weakly, and looked at the bed that held his wife.

Jeanette Granger heard voices… her husband, Hermione, and another. Whose was it? She opened her eyes, and saw a flash of red hair next to her husband's bed.

"Mum!" Hermione cried, rushing over to her bedside. "How are you feeling?"

"Never better darling. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. I wasn't home when the fire happened. I was at school."

"That's right. I'm just a little confused, that's all" she added at the look of concern that crossed Hermione's face.

"I'm… uh… going to let you guys have a bit of family time. I'll go send an owl to Harry and Ginny and let them know that your parents are okay."

"Thanks" Hermione smiled gratefully at him. She pecked his lips chastely, and gave her full attention to his parents.

"I do declare" Mr. Granger said as soon as Ron left the room "that boy is in love with you."

"Daddy" Hermione scolded.

"I'm just stating the blatantly obvious, Mione Jean. The healer didn't happen to tell you when I could get out of here, did he? You know me. I hate being cooped up for too long. And this is starting to feel like too long."

"Depending on how you're recovering" Healer Hays said, walking into the room and over to Hermione's mother, "you could be out of here by the middle of the week."

"Excellent!" he grinned. "The sooner the better."

"But where will we go?" Mrs. Granger asked. "The house is gone, William."

"You'll stay with… with…" Hermione frantically scanned her mind for relatives living in the area. There were none.

"You can stay with us" a motherly tone said from the doorway. Hermione looked up, and saw Mrs. Weasley walking into the room.

"Mrs. Weasley! How did you?"

"Harry and Ginny sent me an owl last night telling me what had happened. I thought I'd pop in here today and see how you were holding up. Hello!" she said brightly to Hermione's parents. "I don't know if you remember me or not, but I'm Molly Weasley. Ron and Ginny are two of my children. As I just said, I would be delighted if you would come stay with us, at least until we can get your home repaired or rebuilt."

"That's a kind offer, but we wouldn't want to impose" Mrs. Granger protested.

"Nonsense! We have plenty of room! Bill and Charlie and Percy all have their own places now! And George only stays over occasionally! And Ron and Ginny are at school for a majority of the year. Please say you'll come! I do get lonely, what with Arthur at work, and all of the children gone."

"In that case, we'd be delighted."

"Thank you, Mrs. Weasley" Hermione said thankfully.

"What is family for, Hermione dear?"


	33. Meaning of a Family

**Hello, Hello. I'm back. Don't have much to say tonight, except thanks for all of the support I've gotten from all of your guy's reviews! I'm going to try to post another chapter tomorrow, but I have an AP Bio test I need to study for too, so I don't know if it's going to happen. **

**Keep reading and keep reviewing!**

Chapter 33

Before she left a short while later to prepare her home for the Grangers, Mrs. Weasley quietly pulled Hermione aside.

"Is there anything I could do, my dear?"

"You've done so much already, Mrs. Weasley! Really, you have!"

"Hermione, dear, you're as much a daughter to me as you are a daughter to your parents. You are family. And families help each other out!"

"And I'll never be able to thank you enough for it!"

"Nonsense. Arthur told me to tell you that he stopped by what's left of your house this morning. He found a few photographs, but that was about it."

Something clicked in Hermione's head.

"I can't believe I forgot! Mrs. Weasley, is there anyway that Mr. Weasley could go back to my house with me, say tomorrow?"

"Why, yes. But why?"

"Mum and Dad kept a fire proof safe in the basement that had all of our documents and all of our home pictures and videos on disks!"

"That's wonderful! Yes, certainly he can go with you tomorrow. I'll have him meet you here at, say, ten? Unless you want to come stay the night with us."

"Thanks for the offer, but I think I'll stay here, at least for tonight."

"Well then, I'll have Arthur meet you here tomorrow morning; I'll stop by too- your parents look like they want some company."

Indeed, they did. Hermione's mum was staring out the window, and her father was flipping aimlessly through a magazine.

"That would be great, Mrs. Weasley. Thank you so much- for everything."

"Remember dear, you're family, and any family of yours is family of mine." She kissed Hermione's forehead. "Well, goodbye. I'll be by tomorrow" she announced to the room. "Behave yourself, Ronald. Don't be a nuisance. Find something productive to do."

Then the matronly figure spun on the spot and disappeared.

"She's a lovely woman" Mrs. Granger said. "I can see why you wanted to spend all of your summers away from home, Hermione!"

Hermione turned a shocked face to the teasing look on her mother's face. "Mum!"

"Teasing, darling."

"So, Ron, you play chess?" Hermione's father asked companionably as he set down his magazine.

"Do I ever!" Ron exclaimed.

"Good- come play a game with me. I never could get Hermione to learn."

"I taught her, but she won't play. She hates loosing."

"Ahh… do you have a set, or know where we can get one?"

"I have one with me, but it's a bit different than your chess set would be."

"Whaddya mean?"

"I'll show you. Mione, could you hand me your bag for a sec?" I have my chess set in there from last year."

She held out the beaded bag she kept with her more out of habit than need, and opened it.

"Accio chess set" she muttered. It flew out, and she handed it to him. "Have fun."

"Thanks" he smiled at her.

"Go easy on his" she said quietly. Obviously not quiet enough, because her father said

"He will do no such thing!"

Hermione shook her had and laughed. Plopping down at the foot of her mother's bed, she stretched out and smiled at her mum.

The healer was right. She looked a great deal better than she had yesterday.

"They seem to get along well" Mrs. Granger said, nodding at Ron and her husband.

"Good thing, too!"

"Yeah."

"So how is it with you and Ron?"

"Wonderful!" Hermione said enthusiastically. "Couldn't be better!"

"It's so nice to see that you both came to your senses. I always knew that you and him had chemistry. The two minutes I saw you during the summers you were constantly talking about him."

"Sorry!"

"Don't apologize. I loved hearing about your life at school. I still do. How's school been?"

"It's been, I don't know, different, I guess."

"How so?"

"After all that happened last year, I guess I'm just having trouble adjusting."

"Have you talked to anyone about this?"

"Ron- a lot. It really helped. I'm finally starting to get back in the groove. It's definitely going to help, with you and dad staying at the Weasley's. I worried a bit, about you living alone. I thought that someone might try to target you because of what me, Harry, and Ron did."

"Don't worry about me and your dad, darling. That was kind of her to invite your dad and I to stay with her. I do admit, I was worried about where we could live. She had such sadness in her eyes, though. What's her story?"

"Fred- of Fred and George, the Weasley twins- we lost him during the Final battle last year."

"That's awful."

"And she's lonely. Everyone except Bill and Fleur and Percy moved into her Aunt's house when things started getting bad last year. Ron obviously wasn't there. But now Charlie's back in Romania, and George is back at his shop, and Ron and Ginny are both at school. And Arthur works during the day, working on the clean up effort. She had a houseful of kids, and then they were gone, living their own lives. She misses the hecticness of it all."

"I would imagine."

"But there is a double wedding coming up in December. That should bring a bit of it back."

"Well, I'd be happy to help with wedding preparations. Make sure you tell Mrs. Weasley that, okay?"

"Trust me, you'd be helping whether you wanted to or not!"

"Yeah, trust me!" Ron piped in from his chair near Mr. Granger's bed. "I know firsthand."

Hermione's mother smiled. "Who's getting married?"

"Percy and Audrey, and then George and Angelina. I went to school with Angelina, but Audrey was home schooled. I only met her a couple weeks ago."

"I remember you talking about Angelina. What's Audrey like?"

"Perfect for Percy" Hermione said wryly.

Mrs. Granger laughed, having heard much about Percy from her daughter. Then she yawned.

"Tired?" Hermione asked. "Why don't you rest. You too Daddy" she added to her father, who'd just thrown his hands up in defeat.

"Sounds good to me" he said. "Ronald here just beat me three games in a row!"

"He can do better than that. Let's go get a cup of tea, Ron."

"Okay" he said, standing up and stowing his chess set in its keeping bag, which he then set on the bedside table. "We can play again later, Mr. Granger."

"You're on!"

Ron and Hermione exited the room, leaving her parents to rest, and journeyed up to the fifth floor teashop.

"Ahh" Hermione sighed as she dropped into a poofy armchair in front of the fire. "Comfy."

"I know what you mean. No kind of magic could possibly make hospital furniture comfortable. I'm going to get a cup of tea. You want anything?"

"Whatever you're getting" Hermione answered. "Thanks."

She sunk deeper into the chair as Ron walked towards the counter to place their order. Her eyes drooped lower and lower, until she had entered the deep realm of sleep.

"Hey, Mione, did you want…" Ron dropped off as he saw her closed eyes. Smiling slightly, he went back to collect his tea, and sat down at the table next to Hermione, perfectly content to watch her peacefully slumber.

"Mione! Hermione! Sorry to do this, but the tea shop's closing in a few minutes."

Hermione looked around groggy and confused, before her eyes found Ron's.

"Right" she said, shaking the cobwebs from her head. "How long was I asleep?"

"Dunno… few hours."

"Why didn't you wake me up?"

"Wake you up! Mione, you're exhausted. Why don't we go to the Burrow tonight, like Mum offered, so that you can get a good night's sleep."

"But my parents…"

"Will be fine. They just need to get some of their strength back before they can get out of here, and that's not going to happen any faster if you stay here than it will I you stay at the Burrow."

"Maybe you're right…"

"I am. And besides- at the Burrow, you get good food _and_a comfy bed."

Hermione smirked and sat up. "Your mum won't mind me changing my mind?"

"Are you kidding? She loves it when you visit. You'll be fine."

"Okay then, let me go say goodbye to my parents."

"I'm going to send an owl home, and then meet you in their room."

She nodded, and they left the shop, parting ways in the third floor hallway.

"See you in a minute" Ron murmured.

Hermione continued on, and soon found herself outside of her parent's room. They were both awake, and sitting up in bed. She lightly knocked on the doorframe before walking in.

"Hello darling" her mother said cheerfully. "Now that you're here, I've been thinking. Where are you going to sleep tonight? Are you going back to school?"

"No" Hermione said. "Ron went to owl his mother and tell her that we're going to come and stay with her. I don't want to go back to school until you both are settled in with the Weasley's."

"Lucky you" her father said, already itching to get out of bed and the stuffy hospital.

Hermione strode across the room and gave each of her parents a quick peck on the cheek.

"I'll be back tomorrow- Mr. Weasley and I are going to see the house. We still had that safe in the basement, right?"

Her mother nodded. "Good- I'm going to get that out, and then I'll be in to see you. Shouldn't be any later than noon."

"Okay, sounds good" Mr. Granger said. "Make sure you bring Ron with you. I want a rematch."

"Alright. Owl me if you need anything- anything at all, I can be here in half a heartbeat."

"Can do. Now go! You look about ready to drop!"

"Okay, okay. Love you!"

"We love you too, Hermione."

She walked back out of the room, right into Ron.

"Oomph… Sorry Ron! I'm ready. You?"

"Yeah, let's go. Mum said she's glad you changed your mind, and that you're to stay as long as you need to or like to."

She grabbed his arm and turned. Seconds later, they looked upon the Burrow. Smiling at each other, they walked through the door to the family waiting for them on the other side.


	34. Dinner, Worry, and Snogging

**Hi everyone! I've been getting a lot of comments telling me to update... Ashley!... so I decided what the heck and am posting something new even though it is not the weekend like it normally is when I post. I have a four day weekend... thank you Thanksgiving... and I wasn't ready for bed yet, so I decided to type up what I have written and post some of it. Be warned, you aren't getting all that I've written this week. You get to wait until the weekend.**

**On a completely different note, I have another story now, called 'Chapters in Our Lives'. It's a series of missing moments throughout Harry Potter. You should all definetly check it out. I only have one chapter posted right now, but I'm definitely going to post some more over the weeked.**

**I think that's all for now. Have a Happy Thanksgiving! Read and Review!**

Chapter 34

"Wash up for dinner" Molly Weasley was calling through the house as Ron and Hermione walked in. "Hello!" she said brightly as they stepped through the door. "Wash up, dinner's ready. Bill and Fleur and George and Angelina are here. Percy may be coming with Audrey later. I was missing everyone, so I decided to have an impromptu family dinner! Now hurry!"

They did as she told them, and then sat down in their usual spaces at the Weasley table. The other members, except Mr. and Mrs. Weasley all looked shocked by their presence.

"Why, hello Miss Bookworm" George said wryly. "Why aren't you off at Hogwarts being bookish? If you're trying to skive off, I have some Skiving Snackboxes that I'll see you cheap." He grinned at her, but stopped when he realized that she wasn't laughing. "Why are you here?"

"There was a fire at my parent's house, and both of my parents are at St. Mungo's. They're going to be fine" she added at the gasps of pity and worry that echoed through the room.

"That's horrible, Hermione" Angelina said sympathetically.

"That's life" Hermione replied.

"How's my youngest son been through all of this?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Absolutely wonderful! I don't know what I would have done without him!"

"What! Ickle Ronnikins! A good, supportive, wonderful boyfriend?" George feigned shock. "Never thought I'd live to see this day!"

"That was with Lavender and you know it" Ron muttered, shooting a glare at his brother.

"Yeah, George" Angelina shot at her fiancé. "What's so funny about that? I would LOVE it if I could get wonderful or supportive out of you every once in a while! I find it quite attractive!" George straightened out quickly after that.

"How are your parents doing, then?" Bill asked.

"Well, they should be out in a couple of days."

"They're going to stay here, Bill!" Mr. Weasley said enthusiastically. "Two muggles staying in my house! Say, Hermione, do you think your father would be willing to show me about plugs and elekicity?"

"Arthur" Mrs. Weasley warned.

"It's electricity, Mr. Weasley. And yes, I'm sure he would be happy to teach you about them."

"Wonderful!" he said excitedly. His wife looked a great deal less pleased.

"So how are you?" Hermione asked Fleur, determined to take the conversation off of herself and her parents.

"I'm doing well" the now seven months pregnant woman said, catching onto what Hermione wanted to do. "The baby's been kicking a lot lately."

"Amazing!"

"Whomever is in there is certainly a strong one" Fleur said, lovingly placing a hand on her enlarged belly.

"Just like their mama" Mrs. Weasley said.

They had just finished their meal when someone called "Hello? Sorry we're late! Work's been crazy as usual." Percy strode into the room, Audrey in tow behind him.

"You just missed dinner, dear, but I can warm something up if you…"

Percy cut his mother off. "That's alright. We figured we'd miss dinner, so we grabbed something before we left. So, father" he said, going straight to business, "have the aurors gotten any leads on that Death Eater case? The one near Reading, Berkshire?"

Hermione's heart stopped. That was where she lived. Her face paled as she realized the fire could have been an attempt at revenge.

Mrs. Weasley shot her husband and son a look that clearly said "pipe down or more to another room." They, along with everyone except Hermione, Ron, Fleur and Molly moved into the sitting room.

"Are you alright, dear?" Molly asked. "You look a bit peaky."

"Yeah, fine."

"What's wrong?" Ron asked her quietly, reaching for her hand and giving it a squeeze.

"Not here" she mumbled. "Tell you later." Then she announced "I'm going to take a shower. I should be out in half an hour." She gave Ron a meaningful look and he nodded slightly."

"Take your time, Hermione. No need to rush" Mrs. Weasley said, getting up from the table to put on the tea kettle.

Hermione made her way to the bathroom outside of Ginny's room, and got into the shower, turning the water hot as she did so. The tensity she'd been carrying in her muscles for the past few days began to slowly melt away as the water worked its wonders.

She tried not to think about what she'd heard downstairs. "It's probably just your run of the mill house fire. Don't freak yourself out about this."

But, even so, she finished her showed quickly and dressed in a worn pair of pajamas. She walked out of the bathroom, towel in hand, and opened the door to Ginny's room. Ron was pacing the floor, waiting for her.

He sat down on the bed cross-legged. She squeezed the last of the water out of her before doing the same, facing him. She grabbed his hands and began absentmindedly tracing the lines on them.

"Did you hear what Percy said to your dad? About the Death Eater case near my house?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Do you think it's at all possible that that Death Eater was the one who set the fire? I mean, what are the chances that the house would catch fire when both of my parents were home? They have completely different shifts at their offices! Only someone watching the house, or an act of fate would make that possible!"

"It is… possible… when you put it that way. Bit, think Mione. Why would a Death Eater just set your house on fire? They would have tortured or killed your parents, and then torched the place!"

"Am I just being paranoid?" she asked, turning her back into his chest and snuggling down into his arms.

As he gently massaged her shoulders he said "No, you're being honest. And you're getting ahead of yourself. You just need to wait and see what happens. You never were good at just going with the flow, you know."

Hermione was finding it rather hard to think at the moment, with Ron's warm hands kneading her shoulders; she sat up quickly.

"Well, I'm, um, going to go to bed."

"Night" Ron said, kissing her deeply. She inhaled as his lips met hers. Some things never got old. Her arms ventured up around his neck; his encircled her waist, pulling her closer. Warm fingers brushed the bit of skin exposed between her t-shirt and pajama bottoms, sending electric jolts through the both of them.

They broke apart, gasping for breath. Ron stood and said dazedly "Right. Bed" before trooping out the door, shutting it behind him.

Hermione couldn't help but let out a little giggle as she heard the door click. Brining a hand up to her slightly swollen lips, she marveled at the realization that one person could make her feel so much. There were some mornings when she woke up and couldn't believe that things were finally working with her and Ron. But moments like this confirmed it all over again.


	35. Shock and Suprise

**Here is, as promised, another chapter of the story. Hope you all enjoy. That's all I have today, so enjoy. Keep reading and keep reviewing!**

Chapter 35

The next morning, Mr. Weasley and Hermione left the Burrow shortly after breakfast.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?" Ron asked as he followed Hermione into Ginny's room, where she was retrieving her beaded bag.

"Thanks for the offer" Hermione said, turning around and squeezing his hand. "But no. This is something I need to do along. I wanted your dad to come just in case I need help with some things."

"Alright. As long as you're sure."

"I am. I'll meet you at the hospital at noon?"

Ron nodded.

"See you later" she said, kissing him, before walking out the door.

Mr. Weasley was already waiting for her in the yard. "Ready?"

As a way of response, she grasped his arm and twisted, concentrating on the place that had been her home for nineteen years. As the world came back into focus, the first thing that Hermione saw was that her home wasn't completely gone. The roof had caved in on one side of the house, and the rest was barely standing, but at some of it was still there.

The second thing she noticed was that there was no evidence of a muggle investigation- no policemen or firemen circling the perimeter, no 'caution' tape, not even a 'do not enter' sign.

"Mr. Weasley? Was anyone here when you came by the other day?"

"No- why do you ask?"

"Normally when a home catches fire in the Muggle world, there's a bit on an investigation to find out what started it. It's odd that there's no sign of one."

Just then, two old, Muggle women out for a morning walk noticed Hermione staring at the ruins and said "Aren't the wildflowers in the field lovely dear? Pride and joy of the community, they are."

They continued on their way without waiting for an answer, leaving Hermione gaping. "Wildflowers? Field? This is getting weirder by the minute! Why can't the Muggles see my house? They've always been able to see it before!" Then she asked "The Ministry hasn't added any security to the house- like what happened to Harry's house in Godric's Hollow- have they?"

Mr. Weasley shook his head. "Not to my knowledge."

"But then why can't the Muggles see it?" she wondered. An answer weighed heavily at the back to her mind- the Death Eater in the area.

"Hermione?" Mr. Weasley asked worriedly.

"What?" she asked, not meeting his eyes. "Let's go- I need to see what's left."

He nodded and followed her into the partially standing house.

One side of the house was completely caved in, like Harry's had been, and the rest was blackened and severely burned.

"Wow…" she said. "At least it's not all gone. Although, we won't be able to repair it."

"Yes, now, where's this safe you were talking about? I'm rather curious about how it works."

"It's in the basement. Which is right…" Hermione paced through the kitchen, into a hallway, and opened a door. "…through here. Do you think it's safe for me to go down there? This part of the house looks stable enough."

"I think so, but let me do some stabilizing spells, just to be on the safe side."

He did so, and then pushed firmly on one of the beams surrounding the basement door. "Ok. Go on in."

Cautiously, she made her way down the stairs, into the cool, cement basement that had stored all of the family's 'junk' over the years. The safe stood in the corner, just as it always had. Hermione let out a little shout of joy and quickly jogged to it. It was the only think still whole in the basement- fire had reached almost all of the boxes stored there.

"Wingardium Leviosa" she said firmly, carefully levitating the safe back up the stairs into what used to be the kitchen.

"Well, here it is. Isn't much, but it has everything we need- licenses, identification, business permits, photos."

Suddenly a thought struck Hermione. "Jamie's room!"

Without a word to Mr. Weasley, she rushed to the opposite side of the house, the side that had collapsed. Coming to the place where his room used to be, all she saw was the roof completely blocking off the entrance into his room She struggled to find a way in, but a gently touch on her shoulder from Mr. Weasley told her it was no use.

"I'm sorry" he said gently.

She looked down, trying to hide the tears welling in her eyes. Amidst the dust and rubble, she saw a familiar shape- a ball, with a hexagonal pattern on it.

She stooped to pick it up- it was Jamie's soccer ball door knob. Clutching it to her chest, she sobbed gratefully. "At least Mum and Dad didn't loose everything material they had to remember you by, Jamie. Thanks for watching out for them" she said to the empty air around her, knowing that wherever he was, her brother could hear her.

Hermione didn't bother checking the rest of the bed rooms. There was no point- they were collapsed in and contained nothing important.

"That's everything" she said to Mr. Weasley, slipping the knob into her sweater pocket.

He nodded.

Minutes later, they stood back in front of the Burrow.

"Back so soon?" Mrs. Weasley asked from where she worked in the garden. "Ron hasn't left yet, Hermione." She nodded, and went into the house, levitating the safe in front of her as she went.

"Oh, hey!" Ron said brightly from where he sat at the kitchen table. "Writing to Harry- letting him know what's going on. What's wrong?" He'd noticed her glum face.

She set the safe down in the corner, and sat down opposite of Ron at the table.

"The Muggles couldn't see my house, Ron" she said, cutting right to the chase.

"So? The Ministry puts up protection like that all the time!"

Hermione shook her head. "They haven't, though, Ron. I asked your dad."

"But if the Ministry didn't, who did? That doesn't just happen."

"I don't know. This fire is getting more suspicious by the minute."

"At least you got the safe, though."

"And this." Hermione pulled the knob from her pocket. "It came from Jamie's room- all of it's completely gone, except for this."

"Wow! It's a soccer ball, right?"

"Yes" Hermione replied, pleased that he'd remembered.

"What's this inside of it?"

"What are you talking about, Ron?" she asked, giving him a strange look.

"Can I see it for a second?" She gave him the knob, and a moment later, he held out a piece of folded paper.

"It was lodged where the knob would have attached to the door. What is it?"

With shaking hands, Hermione opened the paper. It was written by Jamie, in his nine-year-old handwriting, addressed to her.

"_Dear Mione"_ it read.

"_I had a dream last night that I died. I could see you from where I was, crying. And it really scared me. So I just wanted to let you know that you don't need to worry about me. Also, you should probably know that I punched Robbie Brulles a couple of days ago for calling you a bad name that started with f and ended in reak. Don't tell Mum and Dad, though. _

_Jamie"_

Hermione quickly glanced at the date on the paper. "This was written the day before he died!" she though, shocked.

Then she handed the note to Ron. "Read it- it's from my brother!"

"Wow" he said when he'd finished it. "How long as this been in that knob?"

"It's dated two days before he died- so ten years. I can't believe it!"

"Why did he put it in the door knob? Kind of a weird place to put a letter you wanted to give to someone."

"We had a message system set up- I would unscrew his doorknob once a week for a letter, and he would do the same. I didn't check for a message after he died."

"Wow" he said again. "All that time- like it's meant to be."

"I know- anyway, we should get to the hospital. The healer's said that they would know when my parents could be released, today."

"Yeah, okay."

**If anyone's wondering how I came up with the message system, my sister and I used to want to have a system similar to this. Except it never happened because we shared a room for a long time, and it was kind of pointless :D See you all next week!**


	36. Strawberries

**I know that I normally post on Fridays, but pre-season basketball started at my school and our first home game was last night. Being in the pep band, I had to be there- it was actually a really good game. We lost by three points in double overtime. I was out of it by the time I got home, so I didnt post anything last night.**

**I'm sorry if this chapter's not very good. My Spanish teacher assigned a really big project that's due Monday and I've been trying to get it done on top of all the other homework I have. If I have time over Christmas break, I may rewrite it, because I dont like it.**

**Let me know what you think- keep reading and keep reviewing!**

Chapter 36

Two days later, the Grangers stood in front of the Burrow for the first time in their lives.

"It's lovely, Molly, it really is" Mrs. Granger gushed. "Truly wonderful and homelike!"

"I try my best" Mrs. Weasley replied.

Hermione and Ron smiled at each other. Their mothers had fallen quickly into a comfortable companionship mimicked by their fathers.

Mr. Granger was already in the chicken shed with Mr. Weasley, explaining the function of a blender, something Mr. Weasley called a "whirly rirly thingy".

"Come in, come in" Molly Weasley beckoned. "Let's get you and William all set up in Charlie's old room, and then we can have a nice cup of tea going. Ron, be a dear and get the kettle started for me?"

"Sure, mum."

"Good. This way, Jeanette."

She led Mrs. Granger up the stairs, to a room three floors above.

"I am so glad they are out of the hospital" Hermione said, plopping down in a chair. "I have never been more tired of a place in all my life! I miss Hogwarts, and Harry, and Ginny, and even my homework! Speaking of which, we are so behind! We've missed nearly a week of school! I should owl Harry and ask him to send our work…"

She got up to get a quill and ink, but Ron pulled her back into her chair.

"Yeah, about that. Harry may have been sending our homework for the past couple of days. And I haven't given you yours."

"What!" Hermione shrieked at him.

"Let me explain!" he quickly defended, raising his hands shoulder high. "You were stressed enough about your parents. It's Thursday right now- there's no point in going back to school until Monday, especially since most of our Friday afternoon is a free-period. We don't have a lot that we have to make up. We can just do the homework over the weekend. See, I have it all worked out!"

"But the teachers will have it marked off because it's late!"

"Harry talked to them, explained our situation. They were very understanding."

"Okay" Hermione said, taking in a deep breath. "Right. Relaxing. Don't scare me like that!"

"Sorry" Ron said sheepishly.

"Wait- don't you have a Quidditch match on Saturday?"

"Rescheduled. McGonagall has something important to do at the Ministry that day, and she wants to be here for the first match."

"Good- you haven't practiced all week. Not that you wouldn't be brilliant anyway but…" she shrugged.

"I know." Ron said, from where he was now standing at the kitchen counter, his back turned to her. "Hey, does your mum like strawberries and cream?"

"Loves it- why?"

"Mum left all the stuff out for it- she must want it for tea. I should get it dished up. Want some?"

"Have you not known me for eight years? Have I ever once turned down strawberries and cream?"

"Yeah, yeah. Here you go." Ron set the bowl brimming with fruit in front of her. Several others were lined up on the counter.

"Hey, what's that?" he asked, pointing at something over her shoulder. As she turned and looked, he dipped his finger into the cream.

"Haha, you're funny" she said dryly. "Now let me eat!"

"You have cream on your face- right… there!" He touched his creamed finger to the tip of her nose.

"Ronald Weasley!" she laughed, jumping up from her chair. "This means war!"

She grabbed the cream away from him, dipped her fingers into it, and poked him. He chased her around the Burrow's small kitchen until he finally grabbed her tightly around the waist.

"Got you" she said with a grin, dotting her nose with cream again.

Then he playfully kissed her cheek.

Just then they heard chuckles from the stairs. Both Mrs. Weasley and Mrs. Granger stood at the bottom of the stairs, and clearly had just watched the whole incident.

"Go get your fathers" Mrs. Weasley said with a stern look as an admonishment.

"Right, on it" Ron and Hermione answered, before dashing out the door and to the chicken shed.

"This isn't over" Hermione told Ron as they sat on the front steps after herding their father's into the house.

"Wanna bet?" Ron smirked. "I thought it was. But I could win again."

"You called that winning? I call it 'I was going to pull an awesome escape move it the mothers hadn't interrupted."

Ron snorted with laughter. "Keep telling yourself that, Mione."

"Crack!"

"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed excitedly as she looked towards the source of the noise. "Ginny!"

"McGonagall gave us permission to leave for the weekend- to check on you. It's been a long week without the two of you" Harry replied in response to their unasked questions.

"I don't know about without Ron" Ginny mused. "I kind of liked not having him around." Then she walked towards the house saying "is mum in the mood for a surprise?"

Without waiting for an answer she opened the front door. Shrieks of surprise were heard a moment later. "Ginny!" they heard Molly and Arthur exclaim. "When did you get here?"

"Just now, with Harry" they heard her answer.

"Good to see you two again" Harry said, turning his attention back to Ron and Hermione.

"She did miss you, Ron- your sister. A little, tiny, tiny bit. Way, way down deep, somewhere."

"Yeah, whatever mate. I've lived with her for seventeen years. She didn't miss me."

"You're right. Trying to make you feel better. Because she really missed Hermione. I guess Lavender's been driving her mad in the dorm. How are your parents doing?"

"They're great!" Hermione answered. "Inside with Ron's parents as we speak, actually."

"They're here?" Harry asked, confused. "Why?"

"We don't have any family close to here. And since the house is gone, Ron's mum offered to let them stay with them."

"That's great!"

"Big load off of my shoulders" Hermione agreed. "How's school been? Someone," she paused to shoot a look at Ron "wouldn't give me my homework."

"I completely agreed with him on that by the way."

"Harry!"

"What?" Harry argued.

"I would shut it if I were you, mate. She took it a lot worse when I told her."

"Noted."

"Harry" Ginny called from the doorway. "Mum says to get into the kitchen and give her a proper hug before she gets the urge to hex you!"

"Coming, Ginny. I'll be back."

A moment later both Harry and Ginny came out of the house, the screen door slamming behind them.

"Well, now what?" Ron asked.

"Dunno" Harry replied. "Whatever we want."


	37. Already Interesting

**Back again! I got a few reviews regaurding the cuteness of the last chapter- glad you all liked it. Here's another new chapter... I want to have another one up tomorrow night, but I have a bunch of stuff I have to do, and I don't have it written yet, so I don't know how well that will work out. But I will have another chapter of my other story up, for those of you reading that. **

**During my winter break- starts on the 16th!- I'm going to try to post a few chapters a week- I want to be through the chapters I have written for Christmas by the end of my break, for hopefully obvious reasons.**

**Keep reading and keep reviewing!**

Chapter 37

"Stay safe" Hermione admonished her mother and father. She, Ron, Harry, and Ginny were preparing to leave for Hogwarts. "Please, don't overdo it!"

"We'll be fine, darling" he mother soothingly replied, pulling her daughter in for a tight hug.

"I won't let them overdo it" Mrs. Weasley assured. "Now go. You don't want to miss dinner."

"Bye Daddy!" Hermione said, kissing her father's rough cheek.

"Goodbye! Write soon! I love you!"

"Love you too- I love you both." Then she turned to the rest of her traveling companions. "Ready?"

"Let's go" Harry replied. They stood together in a connected line. Hermione turned into blackness, and the homelike feel of the Burrow was replaced with the villagey charms only Hogsmede has.

The group set off towards the castle towering in the distance. The doors swung open to admit them as they stood in the entrance.

Ron's stomach grumbled loudly as a delicious smell wafted towards them.

"Food" he moaned appreciatively."

"How can you possibly be hungry?" Ginny asked in disbelief. "We ate lunch not two hours ago!"

"I dunno- I just am!"

Hermione laughed. "Let's go- I'm a bit hungry myself."

They entered the Great Hall with a flood of other students, and quickly found the familiar Gryffindor table. Neville looked up from where he sat, absorbed in his newspaper. "Ron! Hermione!" he cried happily. "You're back!"

"Hey, Neville" Hermione replied warmly, returning the hug he'd enveloped her in. "It's good to be back."

"Good to see you, Neville" Ron said, patting Neville's back. "How have things been?"

"Not the same without you two- kind of how it was last year without you. Except we weren't being harassed by Death Eaters this time!"

"You're back!" voices around them began chiming. "Ron!" "Hermione!" "Where have you been?"

They ignored the flood of voices and were soon joined by Seamus, Abigail, Parvati, Dean, and Luna (who'd been eating with the Gryffindors all week, according to Neville).

"Oh, it's so good to see you all!" Hermione said appreciatively.

"Good to see you, too" Parvati agreed. "I was lonely without you!"

A cry of "Hey!" arose from Dean, Abigail, and Ginny.

"Lavenders been driving me mad- only Hermione know's what that's like."

Hermione smiled, and looked around the Great Hall. A couple standing very close together in the back corner caught her eye. A tall, blond boy and a dark haired girl. She did a double take- tall and blond- it couldn't be… Malfoy!

Dean noticed her staring. "Malfoy and Greengrass- Astoria Greengrass. Got together over the Hogsmede trip."

Hermione nodded, and watched as Malfoy whispered something to Astoria, causing a smile to light up her face. Hermione decided that they made a good couple.

"Get a room" Ron muttered darkly.

"Come on- how are they any different than us?" Hermione defended.

"Because we're us, and they're them. That's why."

"He's trying to have a normal life. You of all people should know what that's like. I'm not saying you have to forgive Malfoy, you know. I'm just saying that you shouldn't be, well, so awful to him."

"What's with you sticking up for him all of a sudden?"

"I'm not sticking up for him! I'm just trying to make it easier for all of our lives to go back to normal!"

"May I remind you, Hermione, that he let his aunt torture you, and did nothing about it? Excuse me if I'm a bit quick to judge."

Their tones had changed to defensive, hinting at hostile.

"He didn't have a choice, Ron!"

"There you go again! Defending him! Can you, just once, admit that there were a lot of things he did wrong, things he never had to do, things he could have prevented?"

Their friends sat silently at the table, watching Ron and Hermione's first real argument as a couple. The couple in question didn't even notice their stares.

"Oh, just like you? When you walked out on us?- Because I don't see how they are any different."

Ron stared at her, eyes blazing, a hurt look on his face.

"That was different and you know it."

"How? You didn't have to do it, just like Malfoy didn't have to do some of the stuff that he did. But you did. And I forgave you for it! And I'm trying to do the same for him, so that I can move on. Apparently you just don't get that."

With that, she stalked from the table and out of the room.

Ron sank down on the bench, looking defeated.

"I bloody hate it when she yells."

"Get used to it" Harry said quietly. "Are you going to apologize?"

"Me? Apologize? I didn't do anything wrong!"

"Well, you did stomp all over her ways of moving on in life" Ginny pointed out.

"And if you ever want to speak to her again, it's the best way to play your cards" Harry added. "Trust me."

"Fine" Ron replied. "Wish me luck."

Then he nervously walked from the room, following the route Hermione had taken seconds earlier. He took a shortcut to the common room entrance, hoping to beat her there. He did.

She saw him, turned around, and walked in the other direction. Catching her hand, he pulled her to a secluded corner.

"Look, Hermione, I'm sorry. I didn't mean what I said, and I shouldn't have said it. It just surprised me that you want to forgive Malfoy as a way of moving on."

"Why is that so hard for you to accept, Ron? I have my ways, you have yours. Do you not think I haven't noticed you wanting to spend more time with your family? Or you always wanting to know that they're safe? It's your way of coping with what happened. It's making you happy- and this is what makes me happy."

"So, what you're saying is that you aren't happy being with me?"

"Don't put words into my mouth!"

"Then what do you mean, Hermione, because it sounded a hell of a lot like that's what you just said!"

"I just meant that we are all dealing with this stuff differently!"

"Are you happy?" he asked again. "Because if you aren't…"

"Of course I'm happy! The war is over! I'm back with my family! I have you, whom I've been wanting to date for five years! How could I not be happy?"

"Alright. Because I would do anything to make you happy. Even letting go of you."

"Why would you let go of me, Ron? I want to be with you, remember? I'm not going anywhere."

"Does that mean I'm forgiven?"

She nodded, and sighed dramatically. "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have snapped at you. I've been a little stressed this past week, if you couldn't tell. Now get over here and kiss me!"

He was more than happy to oblige.

A few minutes later, they walked into the common room together. No one was back from dinner, so they had the place to themselves. Hermione crawled onto the couch, next to Ron. They sat in complete silence, snuggled in together. There was no need for conversation- it was enough just to be together, just to be happy.


	38. Quidditch and Confidence

**I know this is a day late. Sorry- my friends and I had a celebratory party as it was the official start of winter vacation. And then we all started thinking about how we're all going to miss each other at this time in two years, when we're all in college and in different parts of the country. Anyway, I just spent an hour typing up my previously written material. Probably not going to post tomorrow, because I have a family thing tomorrow night, and something fairly early Monday morning, but I'm probably going to update Monday night.  
>Until then, Keep reading and keep reviewing!<strong>

Chapter 38

The week sped by; between homework and last minute quidditch practices, Hermione scarcely saw Harry, Ron, and Ginny. She had to admit, there was right cause. The first match of the year was Saturday, and it was against Slytherin. While the house rivalries had been greatly diminished, there was still a fairly big Gryffindor- Slytherin rivalry.

"All I can say is" Hermione told her Quidditch playing friends as they sat in the common room on Friday night, "that Gryffindor had better win this match. Or at least keep it really close. Because you all have been working too hard to loose badly."

"Not adding any pressure at all, are you Hermione" Ron said, rolling his eyes.

"You're doing much better under pressure, Ron" Ginny said enthusiastically. "First game of sixth year, you were sick three days before from nerves."

"Don't remind me" Ron groaned.

"Oh, come off it. We killed Horcruxes last year!" Harry cried. "I think you can handle keeping a ball out of three hoops!"

"You just have to have confidence in yourself, Ron" Hermione said. "You do much better when you believe in yourself."

"Well, I don't blame myself for lacking in self confidence. I've been screwing up majorly in practice. And look at my track record!"

"If it makes any difference, I have confidence in you. Well all do. You're going to do great tomorrow!"

"Yes- have a can do attitude, Ron" Ginny added to Hermione's words of inspiration.

"Can do" he repeated.

"Exactly" Hermione said.

Then, following team tradition, Harry and Ginny stood and announced to the various team members "Team, bed" before going up the stairways to their separate dormitories.

"Well, night" Ron said kissing Hermione. "You going to bed?"

"Not yet. I have something I want to do. See you in the morning."

"Good night, Hermione" he repeated before disappearing into the boy's dormitory.

~DREAM~

"Weasley is our king. He couldn't save a single thing, he always lets in everything…"

Ron was surrounded by a crowd of leering Slytherins. They parted to reveal Victor Krum and Cormac McLaggen on either side of Hermione.

"I told you that I only like really good Quidditch players, Ron. Guess that doesn't apply to you."

Ron awoke in a cold sweat, understandably nervous and tense. He decided to go sit down by the fire for a bit to calm down. As he rounded the corner into the common room from the stairs, he noticed that someone was still there. That someone, when Ron moved closer, turned out to be Hermione. She was asleep in an armchair, a piece of paper lying on the floor.

He gently shook her awake, noticing how beautiful she looked after just waking up.

"Ron? Why are you down here?"

"Couldn't sleep. Why are you down here?"

"I was working on… something." She glanced around, spotted the piece of paper, and quickly stuffed it into her bag. "I must have fallen asleep."

"You think?" Ron teased.

"Haha. I'm going to bed. You should try to get some sleep- big day tomorrow. Good night."

"Night Hermione. Sweet dreams."

He watched her trudge tiredly up the stairs before taking a chair in front of the fire.

What seemed like moments later, Ron awoke, about ready to fall out of his chair. The sun was just beginning to rise. He paused for a moment, admiring the general splendor of it, before quietly walking up to the boy's dormitory. It was about seven in the morning; deciding that his nerves wouldn't allow him to go back to bed for another hour or two, Ron quietly dressed and went to breakfast.

He was joined by Harry about ten minutes after he'd sat down.

"Nervous?" Harry asked, picking up a piece of bacon.

"What do you think, Harry? I have good reason to be, too. The Slytherin keeper this year is really good! Their whole team is! I'm rubbish at Quidditch. I don't know why I keep trying out for the team. Maybe I should just quit."

"I'd like to see you try. Have you seen your sister's Bat-Bogey Hex lately? You'd be the recipient of one if you tried to quit! You're the best player we tried out for the position!"

"You just need to stop knocking yourself" Hermione said, from behind them. For only having a few hours of sleep, she looked well rested. "Morning" she added, kissing Ron's cheek before sitting down. "You just need to have some confidence in yourself. You're a much better player than you think you are, Ron."

"Look on the brightside. I've been down here for twenty minutes, and the words 'I'm going to be sick' haven't came out of his mouth. Yet" Harry said in a positive voice.

"Yeah, well, it could still happen" Ron said. Indeed, he looked like he often did before Quidditch matches- nervous pale green.

"Can you eat anything?" Hermione asked. "You need your strength today."

To make her happy, he grabbed a small piece of toast and nibbled at it.

The minutes until they had to leave for the matched ticked by too fast for Ron. He groaned softly when Harry announced "Come one. We should get changed."

"Good luck!" Hermione said to each of them. She pulled Ron off to the side. "You'll do fine. Don't be negative- think about all of the great saves you've made. You've done them once, you can do it again."

"Right" he said, nodding. He didn't look any less nervous. "Well, I guess I'll see you later. You're coming to the match, right?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world."

She watched him walk out of the Great Hall with the rest of the team. She sincerely hoped Gryffindor won- not just for the House, but for Ron, too.

"Welcome to the first Quidditch match of the season! Today's match: Gryffindor vs. Slytherin! My name is James Jordan, and I'll be commentating on this lovely day. And yes, for those of you who are wondering, Lee Jordan is my brother. And now, may I introduce the Gryffindor team! Joint- captained by Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley! Here they come now! Chasers Weasley, Thomas, and Longsky, beaters Finnegan and McLaggen, Keeper Weasley, and Seeker POOOOTER!" A great cheer went up from the Gryffindor side of the stands as the players did a lap around the field on their brooms.

"And now, the Slytherin team!" A smaller cheer from Slytherin's end. "Captained by Jayden Pruitt! May I introduce chasers Greengrass, Pruitt, and Debon, beaters Patterson and Vincent, Keeper Anderson, and Seeker Draco MAAALFOY!"

The teams took their places on the field, with Ginny and Pruitt on the field.

"Shake hands, Captains" Madame Hooch announced.

Ron hovered in the air, and scanned the crowds for Hermione. He found her nearly immediately, standing next to Neville, Luna, Parvati, Abigail, and Hagrid. He caught her eyes, and she nodded encouragingly.

"Keep it clean" Hooch warned. "Take your places!"

Ron rocketed off to the goal posts.

"The balls are released, and the game begins!" Jordan announced.

Ron fixed his eyes on the Quaffle, as it was thrown into the air, and taken into Gryffindor possession. Ginny passed it to Dean, back to Ginny, then to Longsky, back to Ginny before "Ten points to Gryffindor!"

Ron grinned as the crowd erupted into rambunctious cheers. His heart began racing as the Quaffle, now in Slytherin possession, came his way.

"Greengrass in possession, passed to Pruitt, unsuccessful interception attempt by Thomas- nice try, Dean- Slytherin still in possession, moving in to score, and…"

Pruitt aimed at the left hoop- Ron was easily able to save it.

"Blocked by Weasley, Gryffindor back in possession."

Nearly an hour later, the score was 30:50 Gryffindor. Ron had quickly figured out that both Pruitt and Debon tended to give easy clues to which hoop they hoped to put the Quaffle through. Greengrass, on the other hand, was quite difficult to read. Unfortunately for him, the Slytherins had also figured this out, and had passed her the Quaffle to score whenever she was in range. That was how Slytherin had scored.

Suddenly, Ron felt someone zip past him. He barely had time to see a flash of jet black, followed by a flash of white blond.

"Come on, Harry!" Ron shouted along with the rest of the crowd.

"Potter has seen the snitch!" Jordan announced, "closely pursued by Draco Malfoy!"

Ron watched as Harry's arm stretched out a bit further, and close around something.

"Potter has caught the snitch! Gryffindor wins 200 to 40! I'm James Jordan, signing off until November 5th's match between Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw! Until then!"

The crowd of Gryffindors scarcely heard a word after 'wins'. They'd erupted into cheers.

Ron found Hermione again, who gave him a thumbs up. "See you later" she mouthed. "Common Room."

He smiled even wider than he had been, and joined the rest of his team mates, who were headed to the changing rooms.

"Well done, everyone!" Harry and Ginny were congratulating as he walked in.

"Well done, Ron!" the whole team cried. Ron turned the same color as his hair, and sat down, clearly embarrassed.

"Really, Ron, you did great!" Harry affirmed. "Personal best- you saved at least ten- some of those were tricky, too."

"And then they figured out I couldn't read Greengrass and had her score."

"You still did really well." Then Harry turned back to the team. "I believe my co-captain has something she wishes to say- Ginny?"

"Well done, everyone! I'm seeing definite improvement from the beginning of the season, and I'm liking what I'm seeing. There are a few things I'd like to improve, but overall, well done."

Harry clapped as she sat down. "Well, get changed. Sources" he looked at Seamus and Dean "have informed me that there will be a victory party upon our return. We'd better get up to the castle so that they can start celebrating."

Everyone laughed, and hurriedly changed, anxious for and excuse to party.

Ron was just lacing up his trainers when something fell out of his jacket pocket.

"Coming?" Harry asked.

"I'll be out in a minute."

Harry nodded and walked out of the changing rooms.

Ron picked up the something- a paper with his name on it-and opened it.

Dear Ron,  
>I stayed awake trying to find something to say when Gryffindor won and when you'd saved a bunch of goals. How's this- I told you so!<p>

Now hurry up- party in the common room, and we need to celebrate!  
>Hermione<p>

Ron laughed, shook his head, and did exactly as the letter told him.

She was waiting on the front steps of the castle, and stood up as she saw him approaching.

He waved the letter at her.

"You're welcome" she said as he stopped in front of her.

"How did you know we would win?"

"Because you're on the team, and when you believe in yourself, you're an amazing

Quidditch player" she said sweetly.

"Aww... thank you. Come on- I owe you at least one dance tonight. If I do recall, the first party of sixth year, I was a blithering idiot and an arse."

"You owe me at least two dances to make up for that" she said in mock seriousness, stepping closer to him and grabbing his hand.

"Good, because I was planning on way more than two dances. I was thinking, I dunno, all night. How's that?"

"Good to me." She looked up into his baby blue eyes. "Good to me."

"Hand in hand, they headed through the castle, beginning to hear the sounds of a party two floors below the common room.

"Ready for this?" Hermione asked, stopping in front of the Fat Lady. "Because as a winning Quidditch player, you'll be regarded as everyone's personal hero for at least a week."

"I really could care less."

"Yeah right, you liar! Stop being so modest! Get in there and celebrate!"

"Wolfsbane" Ron told the Fat Lady, who swung open to admit them into the common room.

A great cry of "He's here!" echoed throughout the room, followed by a rousing chorus of 'Weasley is our King'- the good version. Hermione smiled as a congratulatory crowd gathered around her boyfriend, momentarily shielding him from view.

He reemerged a few minutes later, carrying two butterbeers, one of which he handed to her. They then found a quieter corner, away from the people.

"You know" Ron said "Harry and I need to get you onto a broom. You've never really experienced the freedom that comes with soaring through the air."

"No thank you. I prefer to keep my feet firmly on the ground."

"Why? It's liberating, Mione. I think that you would like it."

"I have been terrified of heights since I was four. I don't know why it started, but I'm horribly afraid of them."

"Please?" he begged. "I can take you up- and if you don't like it, we could come right back down."

"I'll think about it."

"Good enough. Now, I do believe you owe me a dance."

"I owe you? You owe me!"

"Does it matter? Either way, set your butterbeer down, and let's dance!"

"That's a first. You're actually asking me to dance!"

"Technically, you asked me first."

"Does it matter?" she asked, quoting him. "Let's go."

They made their way to the makeshift dance floor, that had been hastily made by pushing chairs to the walls, and began swaying, his hands just above her hips. The song ended, and familiar chords began the next song. Ron and Hermione looked at each other and smiled.

"Lying here with you so close to me, So hard to fight this feeling when it feels so hard to breath. Caught up in this moment, caught up in your smile…"

Other couples flocked to the floor, but as the song progressed, Ron and Hermione had eyes only for each other. And the applause inspiring kiss that Hermione gave Ron took both of their breath's away.

**By the way, I don't own Harry Potter or Just a Kiss. JK Rowling and Lady Antebellum do though. Lucky them :D**


	39. Not Again

**I know that I promised another chapter yesterday. And I really tried to get one up, but I was writint at midnightish, and I couldn't keep my eyes open any more. Sorry :D Here's the next chapter. I dont think that I'm going to be to Christmas by Christmas, since I want the double wedding to take place sometime before Christmas, so expect Christmas in January-ish. I just said Christmas four times in one sentence. If that's not skill, I don't know what is!**

**Read and Review!**

Chapter 39

The commotion over the first Quidditch match of the year was nowhere close to dying down the following Monday. Everywhere Ron, Harry, and Ginny went, they were regarded as semi-heroes of the school.

"I swear" Ron muttered under his breath, after shaking off yet another adoring fan "that I'm going to hex the next person who comes up to me and asks for my autograph. I don't get why the team's so famous all of a sudden. It's not like Hogwarts has never played Quidditch before!"

"It's kind of monumental, you know, after all that happened last year. It shows that we can move on, go back to our lives" Hermione replied, squeezing his hand as they walked into transfiguration. "It's something normal."

Saying this, she took her seat. The class, since the detention she'd received from Professor Warwick, had gotten a little bit better. She still felt that Warwick treated her a bit unfairly, but she decided to ignore it. It was not worth the punishment that she would receive if she crossed him.

"Alright class, take your seats" Warwick announced as the bell rang, signaling the start of the hour. "I have some homework that I would like to hand back before we get into the lesson today. I also have for you the essay on human transfigurations. I was, in general, pleased with them." He pointed his wand at a pile of neatly stacked papers sitting on his desk, and they floated off to their proper owners.

Hermione had been anxious to get that paper back, since she'd written it and turned it in after she'd gotten back to school, after the fire. She'd had to teach herself the concepts and she wanted to make sure that she'd understood them. She was fairly confident that she had.

When she got her essay back, however, she found a silky T written across the top of her paper. "What!" she gasped, loud enough for several people near her to here. Never before in her life had she gotten a T on a paper. Not even in Snape's class. Written under the grade was the comment "Late by one week. Taken down a grade every day."

She hurriedly glanced at Ron's essay. He had received an A- average.

"Look at this" she said to him, stuffing her essay into his hands. "How is it that you got a better grade than me when we were both gone all week?"

He looked at her paper for a moment and then answered "I have no bloody clue. If you got a T for it being late, I should have one too. And McGonagall said that all of our homework was to be counted as on time as long as it was turned in as soon as we got back. So how you got a T for it being late is beyond me!"

"This is ridiculous! I know that Warwick and I don't exactly see eye to eye, but this… this is uncalled for!"

Up front, Warwick, who had began his lesson in the middle of their conversation looked back at them. "Ms. Granger? Mr. Weasley? Is there something you wish to inform the class? Or can I go back to teaching?"

"Sorry professor" they said together.

Ron turned his attention back to the teacher, but Hermione quickly scrawled a note to him. "I'm going to talk to him after class. Come with me?"

She shoved it under his face, waiting until he nodded. Then, sporting a tight lipped, fake smile, she turned to the lesson, but absorbing none of it.

The bell rang an hour later. "You go on" Hermione told Harry in a hushed whisper. "We'll be to lunch in a minute. We have something we have to do first."

He nodded, but decided not to ask why. "I'll find out eventually" he thought as he and Ginny walked out of the room.

Five minutes later, Hermione and Ron approached Warwick's desk together. He seemed shocked to find them still in class.

"Well now, what can I help you two with?"

"Can you please explain, professor, the grading on these essays?"

They each handed the teacher their papers, and waited while his eyes scanned them. "It's simple, Miss Granger. Yours was marked down because yours was later."

"So was mine, though, sir!" Ron exclaimed. "Her parents were in a house fire, and we were both out of school all week!"

"Your homework was excused, Mr. Weasley. Hers wasn't."

"But, professor" Hermione argued "McGonagall excused it herself. I haven't had any trouble with the work I turned in later in any of my other classes."

"Well, I was never informed about this excuse. I'm sorry, Miss Granger, but the grade stays."

"Wait a minute!" Ron cried. "Either raise her grade, or lower mine! It's not fair to her to be graded lower just because you weren't informed about why she wasn't in school! Especially when we were both gone for the same reason!"

"I do not appreciate the tone of your voice, Mr. Weasley. Kindly lower it, or it will be detention."

"Not until you change one of our grades!"

"Detention, Mr. Weasley!"

"What!" Hermione and Ron both cried indignantly.

"I am not changing the grades! It is your own faults that you missed class. No excuses. Now I suggest getting out of my office, before Ms. Granger gets detention, and Mr. Weasley gets more detention."

"Why won't you change the grades?" Hermione asked defiantly. "Ron's said that you can lower his, to make it fair for both of his! So why won't you do it?"

"Detention for you as well, Ms. Granger. Perhaps last time's detention didn't engrain my message well enough into your brain."

"How dare you threaten her!" Ron roared, his face turning red. "That detention was the most disgusting form of a detention I've ever seen! The reason- I can see that. But not the punishment. That was cruel and you know it! And I am NOT going to let you do that to her again!"

Warwick gave him a sinister sneer, and then looked at Hermione. "So, Miss Granger. I take it that you decided to throw my warning out the window. NOT a wise move on your part. Go ahead. Report me- I don't care. I have ways and reasons beyond your imagination. I'd like to see you try. Now get out of my office. You will be receiving your detention notices in this following week."

They did as he told them, spilling out into the hallway in shock. "I cannot bloody believe him!" Ron cried. "Who does he think he is, threatening you like that! He has no right! I'm going to McGonagall- I'm going to report him!"

Hermione was quiet. "Maybe it would just be better to let it go. Do the detention, get it over with, pretend it never happened. I don't like the feelings I get from him- call it women's intuition, but…"

"Mione, the guy threatened you! If he'd do it to you, he'd do it to other people as well! We have to stand up for ourselves! That punishment was cruel, trying to make you do it again for a ridiculous reason is crazy! You shouldn't have to go through that!"

"I still don't know, Ron…"

"Don't know what, Miss Granger?" It was Professor Estlington, the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.

Ron gave Hermione a look, and then spilled the story.

"This is uncalled for. Come with me, please. We are going to see the headmistress."

They followed the lady through the castle, into the office that had previously belonged to Dumbledore, and now to McGonagall. The whole way Estlington was muttering something about "what an excuse for a teacher… should be fired… why McGonagall hired him in the first place…"

But when they reached the headmistress' office, they found Warwick already inside.

"Come in" McGonagall said as they knocked on her door. "I was just about to call you in. Good- saves me time. Professor Warwick has just been telling me about the events that transpired in his office. It seems that he was misinformed about the homework situation, Miss Granger. You will resubmit you essay to him for proper grading. Your detention does not stand. You, Mr. Weasley, will complete your assigned detention, as there was an uncalled for act of disrespect towards your teacher. I will not allow that from any student, no matter what. Is that understood?"

"Yes professor." He could have kissed McGonagall at that moment- he didn't care about his punishment. As long as Hermione didn't have to go through the horrors of a Warwick detention again, he was good.

"But professor" Estlington cried. "There's…"

Hermione caught her eyes and faintly shook her head.

"Nothing more. I would be happy to have Mr. Weasley complete his detention under me. I have a good amount of papers that need to be graded, and given his experience in Defense Against the Dark Arts, I find that he would be a perfect candidate."

"As this decision is not up to me, I do not have the power to say yes or no. However, if I was in your position, Professor Warwick, I would quickly accept. But, it is, like I said, your choice."

"Take him, Emily" Warwick said to Estlington. "Just make sure he's taught a lesson." Then he stalked out of his office.

"Very well. I'm glad that that's all settled" McGonagall nodded. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have an important meeting in a few moment's time."

"Yes- thank you, professor" Estlington said, ushering Ron and Hermione out of the office.

She took them into an empty classroom, and quietly closed the door. "Have I ever told you that I do NOT like that guy? He gives me the creeps."

"Me to" Hermione agreed.

"And he's a complete jerk. Can never say anything nice. Kind of makes you wonder what his story is. But, anyway, I just wanted to tell you two that whenever he gives you any grief, like he did today, come talk to me BEFORE you say anything to him. He can't give me horrible detentions like he can you two. Alright?"

"Yes, ma'am" Ron and Hermione both answered.

"Thank you, professor, for offering to take my detention" Ron added.

"Not a problem- you are going to be beneficial. I assigned papers on the benefits of jinxes and counter jinxes. Easy!"

"Yes- thanks again! We'd better get going- lunch is going to be over soon, and we haven't had it yet."

"Alright. I'll see you both later."

With that, the parties walked off in opposite directions. "Why wouldn't you let her tell McGonagall what Warwick made you do?" Ron asked, as soon as they were out of earshot.

"Because I don't want to give him the satisfaction of seeing me break. It's fine, Ron, really."

Ron looked dubious. "If he tries to threaten you with that load of bull he told you earlier again, we are going straight to McGonagall, and telling her everything. Deal?"

"Deal. Now let's eat. I'm starving."


	40. The Train again

**I am SO SO SO Sorry for not posting anything over the Christmas break. I have a good reason, though. My computer got a virus and had to go to my uncle- who's a computer genius- to get fixed. The virus hid all of my stuff, which he was able to transfer to an old computer of his. It was actually a blessing in disguise, because my harddrive was about to crash, and then I wouldn't have gotten any of my stuff back. Anyway, I have one chapter ready to go, and one that I need to type up. If I have time tomorrow, I will definitly do it. No promises, though.**

**Read and review! (I've missed seeing new reviews in my email inbox)**

Chapter 40

Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months. Ravenclaw beat Hufflepuff at Quidditch, and Slytherin promptly beat Ravenclaw. Fleur grew more pregnant every day, amidst the large amount of planning for the double wedding being held at the Burrow on December 20th.

On the first weekend of December, Ron and Hermione, as Head Boy and Girl, were called upon by Flitwick to help him decorate the castle for Christmas.

"Mmm" Hermione breathed in the scent of the large evergreen trees being brought into the castle by Hagrid. "It smells like Christmas!"

Then she turned to Ron, who had several boxes of tinsel and ornaments loaded into his arms, a pile higher than his head, and laughed.

"S'not funny" he told her as he set the boxes onto the table.

"I beg to differ" she muttered as she walked up behind him, and began rummaging through them. Selecting an ornament, she carefully placed it on the tree, before standing back to admire it.

"If you decorate the tree that slow- we might- might- have that one done by tonight! Never mind the other eleven that we would have to do later" Ron teased.

"What can I say? I'm a perfectionist!" She smiled.

But she did pick up the pace. By the end of the day, the castle was fully decorate to their, and Flitwick's, liking.

Satisfied, they trooped tiredly back up to the common room. I will be so glad when this is next weekend, and we are sitting on the train, on our way home" Ron said as he sat down next to Harry and Ginny.

"Are you sure?" Hermione asked. "You do realize that you will be forced to help with wedding planning, right? Especially as George's best man."

"Oh- yeah! I'd forgotten about that!" he exclaimed in a serious tone. "Best man- not the wedding."

"Honestly, Ronald" Hermione sighed. Then she yawned. "I'm off to bed. Night."

"Night, Mione. Sweet dreams" Ron replied, waiting until he heard her dormitory door shut before turning to Harry and Ginny. "There's a reason I forgot about the wedding" he grumbled. "I can't figure out what to get Hermione for Christmas!"

"Books" both Harry and Ginny replied.

"I want it to be something special. Maybe something we could do together, something memorable. I don't know. This isn't like other Christmas', where I can just get her whatever."

They all looked about the room, as if searching for an answer.

Aimlessly, Ron picked up a clipping from a muggle newspaper that someone had left in the common room, and looked it over. Suddenly, an idea came to him.

"I've got it!" he told Harry and Ginny.

"What?" they both asked, intrigued.

"She'll love it, Ron" Ginny told her brother warmly. "Just love it."

"That will be a great gift, mate" Harry agreed.

"Good. I'm going to bed. We have Quidditch practice at eight tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah" Ginny answered. "G'night Ron."

"So…" Harry said as Ginny settled closer to him on the couch. "What do you want for Christmas?"

He wrapped his arms around her as she answered "I already got what I wanted."

"Oh yeah? What's that?"

"I got you." She looked into his eyes seriously.

"You don't really mean that."

"Yes, I do. I fell in love with you, Harry, when I was fifteen, and I never stopped- not when we broke up, not when you were destroying evil, not when I thought you were dead. The only thing that I wanted for Christmas this year was to have you, here with me, and safe. I got that and so much more."

Harry pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I love you, Ginny."

"I love you too, Harry.

Gently, he lowered his lips to hers, saying "You're all that I wanted, too" before kissing her deeply.

They looked at each other as they broke apart, and said, at the same time, "Too bad! I'm getting you something anyway!"

"Really! What do you want?" Harry asked again.

"I really don't care!" Ginny answered. "Anything from you is special. What about you?"

"I don't care" Harry repeated with a teasing smile. "Anything from you is special!"

Before they knew it, the students of Hogwarts found the Christmas holiday upon them, and were being packed onto the Hogwarts Express.

"Save us some seats, will you?" Ron asked Harry as they boarded the train. "Mione and I have to patrol the corridors."

"Right- see you later then" Harry replied.

Then he, Ginny, Neville, and Luna walked down the corridor, finally finding the last compartment empty.

"More students going home than usual" Neville mused. "Can't say I blame them. Families are closer than they were before the war."

The train whistle sounded it's final warning before slowly pulling away from the Hogsmede station. A few minutes later, Ron and Hermione came into the compartment.

"I thought you had to patrol" Ginny said questioningly.

"We did… but the prefects are scattered evenly through the cars- about one in each. They agreed to take one car apiece, and keep an eye on it, leaving this one for Ron and me. They all wanted to spend the ride with their friends."

"Perfect" Harry said with a smile.

Then Hermione pulled out an unfinished letter, and began scribbling. Ron glanced over her shoulder, noticing the amount of paper the letter was taking up. "Bloody Hell, Hermione! We're going to be home in a few hours! Can't you just tell your mum and dad all of this when we get back to the Burrow?"

"It's not for my mother, Ron. It's going to Victor"

"Victor? Victor Krum?"

"Yes- how many other Victors do we know?"

"You're still friends with that ruddy pumpkin head?"

"Yes. Is there a problem with that?" Hermione asked, looking up at him for the first time.

Ron sputtered, and said nothing more to her. He began a game of Exploding Snap with Neville and Harry, occasionally muttering "Pumpkin Head" under his breath.

Finally, after an hour of the silent treatment from Ron, Hermione stood up. "Ronald? A word please."

She walked out of their compartment; he reluctantly followed her out, shutting the door behind him.

"What?" he asked shortly.

"You know what" she snapped back. "Enough with the bloody silent treatment! Why are you mad at me? Be honest- is it because I'm writing to Victor?"

Ron only sputtered, and turned a shade of red matching his hair.

"Honestly!" Hermione said exasperatedly. "Ron, you have nothing to worry about with him! He has a girlfriend, and he told me in his last letter that he wanted to propose. He wrote me a letter a few days ago asking my opinion. And I was writing him back, telling him to go for it, if he thought that she was the one. Based on what he's told me about her, she's wonderful. I expect a wedding invitation in a month or two."

"Oh" Ron looked relieved.

"And I've told him about us. He's happy for us, Ron. He told me that it wouldn't have worked out between him and I because we were so different, but that you and I just might have the real thing."

"Oh" Ron said again. "Sorry."

"It's fine" she said, waving her hands in the air. "Ron, if you don't like something, just tell me! It's our communication- or lack of it, really- that's given us problems in the past! We need to _talk_ about things, work through them!"

"Right. Listen, Mione, I really am sorry about the Krum thing. I may have overreacted."

"I know you did." She smiled at him in a way that made his heart melt, and then went together into their compartment, hand in hand.

Ron sat down next to her, staring out the window as she signed the letter and put it back into her bag. Then she pulled her legs up next to her on the seat, and leaned against Ron.

The next thing she knew, she awoke with a jolt as the train came to a stop at King's Cross. She wasn't the only one of her friends to do so. Every member of the compartment sat up groggily.

"Bloody Hell" Ron said, stretching. "Did we sleep the whole way?"

"Almost" Neville answered. He looked rather shocked when he awoke, finding Luna's head nestled onto his shoulder.

They all stood, and quickly collected their luggage, before stepping off the train.

"Have a wonderful Christmas" Hermione warmly told Luna and Neville, giving each of them a brief hug.

"Same to you" they answered. "All of you!"

Then Luna pulled Neville off, saying "Come on- I want to introduce you to Dad. He's been wanting to meet you for a while."

"Great" Neville said with a nervous smile at the others, before following Luna to another corner of the platform.

The remainder of the group got trolleys for their trunks, and casually strolled through the barrier. They were met by Mr. Weasley and Mr. Granger.

"Bit small for a greeting party" Ginny teased her father as she kissed his cheek.

"The women folk are busy wedding planning. Molly wouldn't let anyone else skive off to greet. The other women didn't mind, but the boys are going crazy."

Hermione hadn't heard most of Mr. Weasley's speech. Instead, she hugged he father tightly, before standing back and taking a look at him. "You're looking good."

"I can say the same for you" he answered. "Hermione, darling, you look more beautiful every time that I see you!"

"How's mum?"

"Busy with wedding planning, and loving every minute of it."

"What about you? You're not much of the wedding planning type."

"Arthur and I hide in that magnificent shed of his as much as possible" Mr. Granger admitted. "We're fixing up some of the junk that he has in there, so that it works."

"Don't tell Molly" Mr. Weasley said as he came up behind her. "She thinks we're cleaning it out. Shall we get going?"

Everyone agreed, and so they exited the train station, and piled into Mr. Granger's old Ford, a car that looked remarkably like Mr. Weasley's old flying Ford Anglica.

"We could have apparated" Mr. Weasley apologized, "but we needed an excuse to stay out of the house."

"That bad, huh Dad?" Ron asked.

"Just wait and see, Ron. Just wait and see."

"Oh, joy" Ron muttered. "Drive slow."

Hermione squeezed his hand. "They're exaggerating. It won't be that bad."

They could hear the chaos and confusion inside the house while they stood in the yard.

"Mum, does it really matter if we have the wedding pictures?" they heard Geroge say in a voice just barely under a yell.

"Yes it does, mister! When you take the pictures decides a lot of other things about a wedding! And I don't want this wedding to be… Teddy, dear! Do be careful! Oh, where is Arthur with… oh, there you are!"

They walked through the door to see Mrs. Weasley, Mrs. Granger, Andromeda, Angelina, and Audrey sitting around the kitchen table, Percy and George standing with strained calm faces behind them, Teddy running energetically throughout the house, and a very pregnant Fleur sitting in an armchair, knitting what looked to be a baby blanket.

"Come here, little man" Harry cried, snatching up his godson and tossing him into the air.

Teddy giggled as Harry caught him again, and promptly turned his turquoise blue hair jet black. Then he snuggled into Harry, stuck his thumb in his mouth, and closed his eyes.

"How do you do it, Harry?" Andromeda asked, marveling. "I've been trying to get him to calm down and take a nap all afternoon!"

"Dunno… probably running out of energy. Looks like it's naptime" he added, as a soft snore was heard. He gently stuck Teddy in a cradle next to Fleur's chair, and then began greeting everyone in the room.

"Hermione!" Mrs. Granger said as she stood and hugged her daughter. "It's so good to see you! I've missed you!"

"I've missed you too! How have you been getting along?"

"Just wonderfully! I did so much wedding planning for your aunts, it's just like the old days!"

Across the room, George was busy complaining to Ron about how he wished he'd carried out his their mother. "I swear! It's even worse than Bill and Fleur's wedding!"

"You know what they say, George" Ron said with a laugh, hugging his brother. "Two is not always better than one."

"Got that right" Percy added in.

"When you get married, Ron, do the family a favor and elope. Please! I beg of you!"

"Well, just think, George" Hermione said as she joined their conversation. "It's all over in a couple days."

"Yeah. And then I get to go from a nagging mother, to a nagging wife."

"I can hear you, you know, George Weasley. Just remember: you asked for it. Literally!"

"I know, love."

"Well, why don't you take your luggage upstairs, and then come down and help" Mrs. Weasley said, once the greeting session was over.

"Yes ma'am" the all answered.

"Is your mum crazy yet?" Ron asked Hermione as they carefully levitated their trunks up the stairs.

"She's loving it! She had four older sisters, and she helped plan and prepare every single one of their weddings. Says it reminds her of the old days. And then they all either moved, divorced, or never had kids, so I never got to reap the benefits of cousings. But anyway, she knows wedding planning, cooking, cleaning- everything- and the fastest, most efficient ways to do them all, to a tee."

"Impressive" Ron said. "Maybe only two or three of us will end up totally crazy by the end of this."


	41. Dresses

**This chapter is kind of short. I apologize. I haven't had a lot of time to be writing. Anyway, I think next chapter is going to be the wedding, but it might be the chapter after that. It's coming soon! And then all hell breaks loose! Read and review!**

Chapter 41

"Hermione?" Audrey asked as they went back to the kitchen and sat down at the table. "Can I ask you something?" She continued on without waiting for an answer. "I don't have any sisters or close cousins, and I only have one close friend that I can ask to be my bridesmaid. Angelina and I decided that we would each have two, and so I wanted to ask if… well… you would be one of my bridesmaids. I know that I don't know you very well- I have a pretty good friend at the ministry that's going to be one… I guess I can ask someone else, or just have her as my only bridesmaid if you say no…"

"Audrey, of course I'll be one of your bridesmaids!"

"You will? Oh, thank you! Thank you! I knew I liked you!"

"Yeah, of course. I wanted to get to know you a little better. This will be a pretty good chance!"

As everyone at the table began chatting, Percy came up behind Hermione and whispered to her quietly "Thank you. She doesn't have a lot of close friends- she reminds me of a younger you, actually. And she was already pretty nervous about how she was going to be accepted into the family. So, thanks."

"It's not a problem, Percy. I know how it feels, to not have a lot of friends, to just want to be accepted."

He smiled at her, and began talking quietly with his fiancé.

Ron grabbed Hermione's hand from where it lay on the table. "Looks like we're going to be in a wedding together."

"That's actually a first for me… being in a wedding."

"Me to- surprising for my huge family but… I guess that's the way it works sometimes."

"Hey- you two- are you going to chit-chat all day, or are you going to help with wedding prep? We still have a lot to do, and a short time to do it! The wedding's in a week!" Mrs. Weasley interrupted, in a harsher sounding voice than she'd intended.

"Sorry- helping" they said, pulling centerpieces towards them, arranging the fake flowers in them to perfection with a tap of their wands.

They'd gotten through about four dozen of the centerpieces in the pile when Mrs. Weasley stood and announced "Boys, and men, if you could finish the centerpieces, Hermione and Ginny need to get fitted for their dresses. I want to double check the fit on your dresses, too" she said to Angelina and Audrey. "And then we can be through for the night, and have a nice family dinner. Finish, boys" she called over her shoulder as the Weasley men, Mr. Granger, and Harry crowded around the table, rolling their eyes.

"We'll get supper going, Molly" Andromeda and Mrs. Granger called after her. "And make sure the centerpieces get finished."

"Thank you" Mrs. Weasley called back.

"Here you are" Mrs. Weasley said, handing pale blue dresses to her daughter and Hermione. "I knew your sizes, but they're probably going to need alterations. Anything that doesn't fit can be fixed easily enough. Come out when you've changed, so that I can pin your hems where they need to be."

"Okay, Mum" Ginny replied, waving Hermione into her room, before shutting the door. They quickly shrugged off their clothes, and pulled on the indigo, strapless, just over the knee, dresses.

Pulling the zipper up the side, Hermione turned to look at herself in the mirror; she was pleasantly surprised. She'd never really liked wearing dresses, but this… every inch of her felt pretty, and beautiful!

"Hey, Hermione, can you give me a hand with this zipper? It wont… Wow! You look amazing!"

"You think?" Hermione asked, looking away from the mirror to look at Ginny. "You look great, too!"

"That dress was made for you! Wait until my brother sees! Any way- can you help me with the zipper? Thanks."

A few minutes later, they emerged into the hall, where Audrey and Angelina stood bedecked in their dresses, and veils, and were being fussed over by Mrs. Weasley. Angelina was wearing a pure white strapless gown, with a ruffled skirt, a veil draped carefully over her black hair. Audrey's was also pure white, with a tight fitting corset top, and a flowing, draped skirt radiating from her petite waste. A shrug was fixed around her shoulders.

"You look beautiful!" Hermione sighed to both of them. Ginny stared open mouthed.

"There- done" Mrs. Weasley said, not noticing the girls' shocked expressions, as she tapped her wand one last time on Angelina's dress. "Alright… you two can go change. We shouldn't need to fit it anymore before the wedding, so go ahead and hang it in the closet, and lock the closet. I'm not taking any chances that my sons will see your dresses before your big day!"

Turning around to Hermione and Ginny, she sighed. "You both look beautiful! Oh, Hermione! Let me get your mother. She should see what a beautiful young woman you've become. Just a minute."

She jogged down the stairs, and returned a minute later with Mrs. Granger in tow. "Don't they look just beautiful?" she gushed. "Our little babies, all grown up, into beautiful and amazing young women."

"That they are, Molly. That they are" Mrs. Granger replied, tears sparkling in her eyes.

"Don't start crying" Ginny warned, with a smile. "You're going to make me cry!"

"Sorry" Mrs. Granger said, quickly wiping her eyes. "Although, I can't guarantee that I won't do that at the wedding."

The women all laughed, and the mothers moved to stand behind their daughters, looking into the mirror with them. Hermione wished that she'd had a camera, to capture the moment forever.

The moment was broken by a "Hey mum! We've finished the centerpieces! Can we go ahead and eat now?" from Ron.

"Just a minute!" Mrs. Weasley called, hustling into action. "Wait for the rest of us to get finished up here. We won't be any more than ten minutes!"

A significant amount of grumbling was heard from downstairs, but the ladies couldn't hear the clinking of dishes, which would have signified that Mrs. Weasley's words were being ignored.

As she pinned the hems at just below the knee, Mrs. Weasley instructed the girls on the shoes they were to wear. "I have heels for the both of you, in with the rest of the wedding clothes. They're special heels, that don't make your feet hurt when you where them."

"I love magic!" Hermione grinned.

"And that… does it. Go change, and then head down. I'll try to make my sons wait a little longer, but I don't know how long I'll be able to keep them away from the food, so hurry!"

The girls hurriedly changed, and them hustled down the stairs. "Good! We can finally eat!" Ron said his stomach gave a loud rumble. "I'm starving!"

"Well, eat!" Mrs. Weasley said, smoothing her youngest son's hair affectionately.

"Plenty to go around!"

The picture around the table was a reminder of a dinner almost a year and a half ago, about three days before Bill and Fleur's wedding. Only this time, the table had grown to include Andromeda, Teddy, the Grangers, Angelina, and Audrey. And it had lost one member permanently.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione all sat in a line down one side of the table, laughing, with Teddy and his high chair on the other side of Harry; the child's hair had been jet black since he'd laid his eyes on his godfather. George sat on the other side of Hermione, Angelina at his side, while Ginny sat next to Teddy and her mother. Bill, Fleur, Percy, Audrey, Andromeda, the Grangers, and Mr. Weasley filled in the other half.

"My family" Hermione thought fondly as she looked up and down the table and it's members, remembering all of the happy times that she'd spent there, and would spend there.

**PS: If you want to see the dresses, how I imagined them, but couldn't possibly describe as good as I wanted to, go to my profile. I have links to the bridesmaids dresses, and to the wedding dresses. Let me know what you think!**


	42. Wedding

**I'm sorry for the delayed update... I had a hard time writing the first part of this chapter, and the week I had didn't really have me in the mood for writing. I punched out the first two pages or so this morning, and then the other part- the wedding- I've had saved to my computer since about July. I have a good two weeks of posting material now that I wrote a while back, which is good, because I'm not going to have a lot of time to post in the next two weeks.**

**Anyway, here's the wedding! Hope you like it!  
>Read and Reveiw!<strong>

Chapter 42

The next week the group was so busy with wedding preparations, they scarcely saw one another. The "insanity wedding" as it had been dubbed by those occupying the Burrow, was, like with Bill and Fleur's wedding, being held in a tent next to the magical house.

"I feel like a bloody house elf" Ron muttered, as he and Harry gave the garden one last degnoming, the day before the wedding.

As if to help her son make his point Mrs. Weasley threw up the sash an upstairs window and yelled down to them "Boys! Hurry and finish with the garden! The people with the tent have just arrived and they need all the help they can get putting it up!"

"See" Ron muttered, picking up another gnome and swinging it high above his head. "House elf. Ron do this! Boys do that! And Hurry Up!"

"Don't let Hermione hear you say that" Harry replied as he dusted his hands off on his jeans. "She just got off of SPEW. Don't get her started again."

"Too late" Hermione said, coming up behind them. "You are not working like a house elf, Ronald. You are helping your mother prepare for your older brother's weddings. Now come one- once we get the tent up, I think we have everything ready for tomorrow, and we can relax."

"Finally!" Ron cried, hurrying over to where a group of seven or eight men were spreading a large piece of canvas over the ground where the wedding was to be held.

"Alright then" the young man who seemed to be in charge of the tent company said in an Australian accent. "I'm going to count to three, and then we all need to perform a hover charm on the canvas while my men put the poles up."

Ron couldn't help notice the man, who seemed to only be a few years younger than they were, was blatantly staring at Hermione. She seemed completely unaware, as she caught her bushy hair up into a ponytail.

"Alright- all together now! One, Two, Three!"

All at once, the pearly white canvas floated peacefully up into the air, waiting while the poles were propped into place underneath it.

"Very good!" tent man proclaimed, looking especially at Hermione. "Thanks for the help everyone."

Ron rolled his eyes, and then walked over to Hermione. As tent man, as Ron had named him, was still trying to catch her eye, he grabbed her hand and asked "Ready to go in?"

She agreed, and as she did, Ron couldn't help but grin at the look of slight disappointment that had crossed the man's face.

"He was just looking, Ron" Hermione giggled as they walked into the house. She too had found tent man's pointed stares hard to ignore. "Although, I must say, he was being very obvious about it. And very annoying. He spent ten minutes talking to me about the tent business before your dad rescued me and told me to get you and Harry!"

"Some blokes just don't get the point" Ron agreed. Deciding to drop the subject he asked "What shall we do with the rest of our afternoon?"

"I have some reading I want to catch up on" Hermione replied.

"Harry! Up for a game of chess?" Ron called, knowing that once Hermione had given her attention to a book, it was best to leave her alone.

"Sure, mate." Harry replied. When they walked into the living room of the Burrow, it was quiet.

"Right, you lot" Mrs. Weasley said. "I would suggest using this bit of downtime to rest up or relax a bit before tomorrow. It's a big day, and I would hate to have anyone sleep through it. Feel free to go up to your rooms and take a nap. Heaven knows, almost this whole house is."

"Alright, Mrs. Weasley" Hermione replied. "Don't worry about getting dinner. We can handle it tonight. Just relax- you've been doing a lot for the wedding."

Mrs. Weasley looked a little taken aback, but agreed to the offer. "Thank you. Let me know if you need any help." And with that, she walked up the stairs, to her and Mr. Weasley's bedroom on the second floor, leaving Hermione, Harry, Ron, and Ginny standing in the living room.

"Still want a game, Harry?" Ron asked as Hermione flopped onto the couch and pulled out a book. Ginny wandered up to her room, mumbling something about "naptime."

"Yeah, sure, why not" Harry replied.

They were soon immersed in their game, repeating a scene that had so often occurred both at Hogwarts and at the Burrow, complete to the tee with Hermione sitting and watching, book in hand.

Ron looked at Hermione, expecting praise for a brilliant move on his part, only to find her fast asleep, her book folded over her chest. He shook his head, and gently pried the book from her fingers, laying a blanket over her. She didn't stir, except to curl one of her arms under her head. Ron found the sight enticing, to say the least. He couldn't even begin to comprehend how someone sleeping could be so breathtaking. But watching Hermione sleep was one of the best things in the world.

"Ron- are you going to come finish this game?" Harry asked.

"Wha? Oh- sorry" he replied, tearing his eyes away from Hermione.

Two hours, and three games later, Ron suddenly glanced at the clock. "Blimey- we told Mum that we would get dinner on the table. We should probably get started!"

Harry looked at Hermione, and said at the same time as Ron "We can manage it on our own. Let her sleep."

* * *

><p>Hermione awoke with a start. She'd dreamt that she'd been late to the wedding, and that, when she'd gotten there, Audrey had replaced her with Lavender as a bridesmaid.<p>

Shaking the thought from her head, she stretched her arms above her head, and sat up.

The room had grown dark, and was empty. The smells coming from the kitchen told her where her boyfriend and friend might be. Sure enough, the first thing she saw when she entered the magical kitchen was Ron and Harry standing at the counter, slicing potatoes, as a frying pan of eggs and bacon sizzled on the stove.

Harry made to drop some of the potatoes into a skillet when he noticed Hermione. "Get a lot of reading done, Hermione?" he teased.

"Haha, Harry" she replied sarcastically. "Want any help?"

"Nah" Ron answered, beginning to set the table. "Almost done. Why don't you sit down? Want a cup of tea?"

"That would be lovely! Thanks, Ron!"

"Can you believe that the wedding is tomorrow?" Harry asked, as he grabbed three plates and filled them with food for all of them.

"No… and yes" Hermione replied. "We've been preparing for long enough. It just doesn't seem like it should be tomorrow."

"But it is. And I, for one, cannot wait for it to be over with!" Ron said enthusiastically. "I cannot wait!"

* * *

><p>And, the next thing the trio new, it was four o'clock on wedding day. Hermione stood in Ginny's room, dressed in her bridesmaid's gown, a shawl tastefully arranged over her shoulders, her hair arranged into an elegant French Twist. Fleur had insisted on doing everyone's hair and makeup, and had, not taking Hermione's "no!" on the makeup, put on a bit more than Hermione was used to. In other words, instead of the occasional concealer Hermione wore, she was tastefully done up with powder, blush, a smudge of eye shadow, and a hint of lip gloss.<p>

"You both look lovely" Mrs. Weasley said, as she handed them their bouquets. "It's time. Ready to go down?"

"Yes, alright" they both replied, leading the way to the outside tent, followed by Angelina and Audrey.

They were met by the father's of the brides, and Mr. Weasley. "Ready to go sit, darling?" he asked, offering Mrs. Weasley his arm. She took it, and entered the tent.

Hermione looked at Angelina and Audrey, mouthing "Ready?" They both nodded that they were. Hermione stuck her head into the tent, and gave a thumbs up to the small string quartet assembled in it.

The music began and Percy and George went to stand up in the front of the tent. Charlie stood beside Percy and Ron beside George. Hermione began the trek up the aisle, taking small measured steps up to the alter, followed by Ginny. She met Ron's eyes as she took her place on Percy and Audrey's side of the minister. He looked stunned.

The music changed, and the crowd gathered in the tent stood, turning their attention towards the back of the tent, where Audrey and Angelina stood with their fathers in a line. Hermione snuck looks at the grooms, noticing the love struck looks on both of their faces, mimicked by the looks on the brides faces.

The procession reached the front row of seats, and Percy and George went to meet their brides leading them the rest of the way up to the minister, who began the ceremony.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to witness the joyous unions of George Fabian Weasley with Angelina Taylor Johnson and Percy Ignatius Weasley and Audrey Lynn Clearwater."

And so the ceremony began. Tears trickled out of her eyes as she listened to the two couples as they repeated their promises to 'love, comfort, honor and keep for better or for worse, richer or poorer, in sickness and in health". Her thoughts strayed slightly, trying to imagine a day like this in her future. She had a feeling that one would happen, and with the person she had in mind.

Suddenly the preacher was saying "You may know kiss your bride". Percy kissed Audrey, and George kissed Angelina. They brought the crowd to their feet, cheering and clapping. As they stood, the minister waved his wand, just as he had at Bill and Fleur's wedding, and tables, chairs, and a dance floor appeared. The crowd scattered to the tables, and Hermione went looking for Ron, who seemed to have disappeared.

"Where did you go, Ronald Weasley?" Hermione muttered, scanning the crowds for him. She felt long, lanky arms wrap around her waist from behind.

Not knowing who was holding her, Hermione turned around in his arms, coming face to face with Ron. "Have I told you yet today that you look beautiful?" he asked her, as she wrapped her hands around his neck.

"Yes" she stated, kissing him. "But you can say it again".

"You're beautiful".

"You're not too shabby yourself" she replied. As she spoke, Ron began tugging the tie he wore looser.

"I hate these things" he stated, to no one in particular. "You can't breath when you wear them".

They found a table, where Hermione sat down, only to be pulled up again by Ron. "Come dance with me?" he asked her. Looking around, she was reminded of when he'd posed this same question to her at Bill and Fleur's wedding, almost two years ago. She let him lead her to the dance floor. As it was a dance only for members of the wedding party and their dates, they were forced to dance in a prim and proper manner that Ron personally hated. But that dance finished, and some real dance music began. They, along with Ginny and Harry, laughed the night away, dancing in each other's arms.

* * *

><p>As a clock in the house struck ten thirty the DJ announced the last song of the night. It was a song called "Wait for you" by a little known muggle band- Atreyu.<p>

As Ron and Hermione danced and listened to the lyrics, Hermione murmured "It kind of reminds you of us, doesn't it. Been through it all, willing to wait for each other".

"Yeah, it does" he whispered back. Then he cupped her face with his hands and kissed her gently. It was a kiss that took her breath away. They broke apart when an old man walked by them and said, disgusted "Get a room".

Ron started to yell something back at the man, but Hermione stopped him. "Leave him. He's probably some bitter old man who's jealous of all that we have."

"That's actually Muriel's son. So yeah, you pretty much hit the mark. His mother scared away any and all women that ever came near him". Hermione burst out laughing. "Poor man. Could you imagine having her as a mother?" As soon as the words were out of her mouth she looked around quickly, making sure no one had heard her.

"I would go insane and move to a mental hospital after living with her until I came of age. There's no way!"

"Is she nice to anyone?" Hermione inquired.

"Not really. There's always something she'll nitpick you for. Did I hear her right when she told you that nice girls wear their hair up after they turn eighteen and never wear skirts above the knee?"

"Yep." Hermione said, eyeing her just about the knee dress.

"Don't take it personally."

"I don't. I trust your opinion way more than I trust hers and you like it."

"Glad to know that my opinion counts for something" Ron teased.

By this time the song had ended, and guests were beginning to leave. "Wanna take a walk before we have to head back to reality?" Ron asked.

"I would love one." So he led her outside, covering her shoulders with his jacket as he did so. She slipped her arms into the sleeves, still warm from the heat of his arms.

"Thanks". They began walking through the lantern lit, snow covered paths of the garden.

They came to a stop at a spot completely devoid of lantern light. Ron wrapped his arms around Hermione and rested his chin on the top of her hair. Silently, they looked out at the stars, at the vast empty sky. "It's beautiful" Hermione whispered.

"Yes you are" Ron answered, much to her surprise. "Are you warm enough?" he asked, noticing his breath as he spoke. It was only a little above freezing, and the dress she was wearing was anything but warm. "I'm fine" she replied. But all the same, he wrapped his arms tighter around her and began rubbing her arms to help them keep warm.

She leaned against him, looking at the stars. She was remembering what happened the last time there'd been a wedding at the Burrow. Ron was too-she was sure of it. "Why would he not?" Hermione thought. "It was the start of the fight for everything we, our families, our friends, and the wizarding world believe in. Family, friendship, equality, love…"

Hermione noticed a twig sticking straight up out of the ground a couple of feet away. She walked closer to it, wondering why it was there, in a treeless open field.

Ron noticed her looking at it and answered her unasked question. "That's where the center pole for the tent for Bill and Fleur's wedding was. Mum wanted to mark the spot."

"So that would me…" Hermione trailed off, unable to finish her thought. Ron finished it for her. "This was everything started for Harry and us. Heck, it was probably the beginning of us!"

"I remember dancing with you that night… right around this spot. It was close to the center pole."

"I do too."

Before either of them had a chance to do anything else, Ginny ran up to them, out of breath.

"I… have been… looking… all over for you!"

"What's wrong?" Ron asked, a look that almost qualified as panic crossing over his face. "Is it Mum or Fred or…"

"No- it's nothing like that" Ginny hastily reassured him. "It's Fleur! She's having the baby!"

**Cliff hanger! Sorry- I couldn't resist!**


	43. The newest addition

**Back for another week. I couldn't resist leaving the story at a cliff hanger last week. Sorry! Just to let you know, I'm going to try to post the next chapter tomorrow, but I won't be posting anything next weekend. A bunch of family friends are coming into town on Thursday until Monday, and I'm not going to have a room (I get an air matress somewhere...), which means that I'm not going to have a computer either. Sorry :( I should be back up and running, though, the first weekend of February. Until then!  
>Keep reading, and keep reviewing!<strong>

Chapter 43

"What? Now!" Hermione shrieked.

Ginny nodded her head and said "Hurry back to the house- Bill needs moral support from you, Ron, and Fleur needs it from me and Hermione! Hurry!" She began walking back to the house.

"Yeah, okay, let's go" Ron said, awestruck. "I'm going to be an uncle!"

"She's having the baby here?" Hermione asked in disbelief. "Shouldn't she be in the hospital?"

"Mum's superstitious about babies… says that they should be born at home. Fleur agrees with her, and so do I- Percy was the only one of us born at the hospital, because the doctors thought that he might have something wrong with him- they were right. He turned out to be the world's biggest prat! I believe to this day that it's because he wasn't born here!" Ron replied.

"Really, Ronald, it's his wedding day!"

"Are you two coming?" Ginny snapped, stopping a few feet away.

"Yes!"

* * *

><p>They hurried up to the house where Ron remained in the living room with his father, her father, Harry, Charlie, and Bill who was anxiously pacing the floor. Hermione continued upstairs to Bill's old room with Ginny, detouring only a moment to change out of her wedding clothes.<p>

"Ah, Hermione" Mrs. Weasley said briskly as they came in. "Will you and Ginny try to keep Fleur as comfortable as you can while Mrs. Granger and I help the midwife?"

"Yes, certainly" they both answered. They hurried over to the bed and sat in two chairs next to it. Hermione took Fleur's hand, which Fleur squeezed rather tightly and swore in French as another labor pain overtook her. Ginny grabbed a damp cloth and cooled Fleur's sweaty face.

And so they sat. It might have been an hour, it might have been five. They had no way to judge the time. But finally the cry of the baby was heard and Hermione raced downstairs to get Bill.

"Come meet your daughter, Daddy Bill!" she said beckoning him upstairs.

"Fleur-is she…"

"She's just fine. Now get upstairs!"

He did as Hermione ordered and raced up the started back up, but Ron held her back. "Give them a couple minutes alone" he said.

"Okay. I need to wash up anyway". She yawned. "How long was I up there?"

"About three hours. It's nearly two in the morning on December 22."

"No wonder I'm so tired. Where's everyone else?"

"Ginny said that the happy couples left for their honeymoons right before Fleur went into labor. Dad sent them owls, but I really don't expect them to come back, at least for a couple days."

"Oh" was all Hermione said, before she washed up, and then they went upstairs to greet Bill and Fleur's brand new baby girl. As they walked into the room an exhausted but happy looking Fleur smiled at them. Those that remained of the Weasley family had crowded into the room, as well as the Grangers, and Harry.

"This" she proudly announced "is Victoire Ennett Weasley. Say hi to your Uncle Ron!" she then crooned proudly at her baby as she handed her to Ron. Having known from a young age (due to a large amount of younger Weasley cousins) the proper way to hold a baby, he looked quite at ease as he gently rocked the baby, holding her so that Hermione, Harry, and Ginny could see too.

Then he passed Victoire to a proud "Grandpere and Grandmere Delacour and Aunt Gabriel" who'd just arrived in the room, in response to the owl Mr. Weasley had sent them. Hermione and Ron then stood up to leave saying "It's been a long night. We should get some sleep."

"Hermione!" Fleur called as they reached the doorway. "Wait! I just want to thank you. I could never have done it without you!"

"You're welcome."

"Bill and I have something that we want to ask you and Ginny. Will you be her godmothers?"

"What! Us!" the girls exclaimed in shock.

"We talked about it before hand," Bill said, taking over for Fleur, "and we both agree that there's no one better to be our little girls' godparents. It's our biggest dream for our child to grow up in the world just like the two of you- strong, independent minded, intelligent, and confident. And she can only do that with the two of you as role models."

"What do you say?" Fleur asked. "Will you do it?"

"I would be honored!" Hermione said, tears filling her eyes.

"So would I" Ginny added.

"Thank you!" Bill and Fleur exclaimed.

"I'm going to go down and try to get some sleep. Night everyone" Hermione said, wiping the tears from her eyes. Then she bent her head and kissed her little goddaughter, whispering "Goodnight, Victoire Ennett."

"You coming?" she asked Ron as she made to leave the room, after saying a quick 'good night' to her parents.

"Yeah. Night everyone."

Together, hand in hand, they walked down the stairs, stopping three floors down, outside of Ginny's room.

He kissed her goodnight in the doorway. "You look exhausted!" he noticed. "Get some sleep. You did good today. I'm proud of you."

"Proud of me!" Hermione asked, rather confused. "It wasn't as if I was the one having the baby, thank goodness. I'm not ready for that."

"For being there. If Miss Fleur independent upstairs says she couldn't do it without you, she means it. And for being the future role model. Bill and Fleur are right, you know. You are pretty amazing."

"Thank you" Hermione said. She kissed Ron again and went inside the room saying "Tell your mum to come get me if she wants to get some rest, on your way up, k?"

"Okay" Ron mumbled, looking more and more tired by the minute.

"Night" Hermione yawned as she closed the door. Collapsing on the cot, she fell asleep on top of the covers, still in her clothes from that night.

* * *

><p>She, along with everyone else in the house slept fairly late, having been up until almost four in the morning. Hermione was the first one out of bed, at about ten in the morning. Feeling quite hungry, she went to the now familiar Weasley kitchen and began making bacon sandwiches for everyone. She knew she would have company within minutes of the bacon beginning to fry. Sure enough, she heard footsteps coming downstairs minutes later. Standing before her was the one person she knew that could smell bacon from a mile away.<p>

"Morning" Ron greeted, rubbing his hand through his hair in a sleepy fashion. "You want any help with that?" he asked, motioning to the sandwiches Hermione was preparing.

"No, I'm nearly done." She handed him a plate with three sandwiches on it before grabbing on for herself. Within five minutes, every member of the Weasley family staying at the Burrow, excepting Fleur and the baby, had followed the smell of bacon to the kitchen.

Bill was the first down. "Thanks, Hermione" he said gratefully as she handed him two full plates. He turned and walked back upstairs, almost knocking into Ginny as he did so.

"Morning" Ginny said to him, but he just nodded his head and continued hurrying up the stairs. "Fatherhood" she said with a laugh as she shook her head.

* * *

><p>Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were in the kitchen next.<p>

"Morning all" Mr. Weasley said with a yawn. Luckily, he had the day off.

"Hermione dear! You did have to make all of this!" Mrs. Weasley said beckoning at the food.

"It was no problem Mrs. Weasley" Hermione replied as she handed them plates. "How's Fleur?"

"Already wanting to be up and out of bed. Bill won't let her. Says she's in there until tomorrow at least so she can get some rest."

"And Victoire?"

"The sweetest little thing. You can already tell that she's going to look like her mama. Do you three, and Harry when he wakes up, mind helping the tent people take down the tent? Everything else from the wedding was already tidied up, so we can just relax after that."

"Sure- not a problem, Mum" Ginny answered.

"Thank you, very much. What would I do without you?"

Then she and her husband returned up the stairs, probably to see their new granddaughter. They faintly heard a "Morning Jeannette, William. Sleep well?"

A few seconds later, Mr. and Mrs. Granger appeared in the kitchen.

"Morning Mione Jean" Hermione's father said with a wink and a gentle tug at her wild hair.

"Morning Daddy, Mum."

"We just wanted to say, Hermione, that we are extremely proud of you. Not many young women would have the courage to help bring a baby into the world. And for being the young woman you've become, and for being a future role model for others. You too, Ginny. Bill and Fleur will be lucky parents if their little girl grows up to be like the two of you."

"All of it is thanks to you. You know that, right?"

"We can only do so much, Hermione."

"I love you."

"We love you too. And we're proud of you, Hermione. Always remember that."


	44. Christmas Eve

Chapter 44

The afternoon after baby Victoire's appearance and the double wedding, Bill and Fleur left for Shell Cottage. They were joined by Mr. and Mrs. Delacour and Gabriel to give Fleur some help adjusting to her new life as a mother.

The house was quiet. Thinking about it Hermione said to herself "it's only me, Harry, Ron, Ginny, Mum, Dad, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Everyone else is gone. I don't think I've ever been to such an empty Burrow. No wonder it's so quiet."

But it was a welcome quiet. It was nice to be able to sleep through the night not hearing Fleur or Bill rocking the crying baby. It was nice to be able to have a conversation with someone without having to find a quiet room.

"Let's go for a walk" Hermione said, pulling Ron off of the couch. "It's beautiful out today!" Ron agreed, and the two pulled on their hats and coats before strolling out into the snow covered garden. Hermione smiled. Christmas was in two days, and it was finally starting to look and feel like it.

She quickly scooped up some snow and molded it into a ball before chucking it at Ron. She hit him square on the back of his head. "Ahh!" he yelled as the snow began making its way down the back of his neck. "Bloody hell, that's cold! This means war, Mione!"

And so the war ensued. Ten minutes later Hermione help up her hands in a gesture of surrender. "Ok! You win!" she laughed, gasping for breath. "I really need to get warm. I'm freezing!"

Ron strode over to her and wrapped his arms around her. "Any better?" he teased, knowing full well he was as cold as she was and that he wasn't helping her at all.

"No" she smirked. "Come on."

* * *

><p>Later that day, Ron went with Harry, Hermione and Ginny to the woods close to the Burrow and picked the best looking tree they could find. Following Burrow tradition, they decorated it with the rest of the family on that Christmas Eve.<p>

Bill and Fleur came to stay the night, with baby Victoire on Christmas Eve; so did Percy and Audrey, and Andromeda and Teddy.

Fred and Angelina had elected to spend their first Christmas together in their own small home, and Charlie had volunteered to stay in Romania so that some of his coworkers could spend the holiday with their families.

His mother had complained at first, when he left for Romania two days before Christmas. "Why do you have to go? I've hardly seen you!"

"I'll be back- sooner than you think, Mum" he'd replied, somewhat mystically.

* * *

><p>The family, plus the Grangers now sat around a large Christmas tree, adorned with the traditional angelic gnome, placing ornaments on the sweet smelling branches, and sharing the memories that each decoration contained.<p>

"I remember you all used to fight over who got to put this one up" Mrs. Weasley laughed, taking out an ornament of a smiling, waving Teddy Bear riding a broomstick, and handing it to Teddy. He toddled over to the tree, and struggled to reach a branch about half way up. Harry laughed as he went to pick up his godson, helping him to hang the ornament on just the right branch, a little higher up.

"Da…da" Teddy gurgled, smiling at Harry. The room went quiet.

"Did you just… say something?" Harry asked the baby into the silence.

"Dada" the baby repeated.

"He's… trying to say 'Daddy'" Andromeda said in amazement. "I knew that he would start talking soon but…"

"Dada!" Teddy said again, pointing to Harry.

"He thinks I'm… Remus" Harry said in a shocked voice. "No, Teddy. Not Dada. Harry" he said, pointing at himself. Then he carried him over to a small picture of Remus and Tonks and pointed at the man that should have been standing in Harry's place, hearing his son say those words. "That's your dad."

A look that resembled understanding filled Teddy's eyes, and he pointed at the picture. "Dada?"

"Yes, very good."

"Ree?" the boy asked, slightly mispronouncing Harry's name, as he pointed up at him.

"Right."

Carrying Teddy back to Andromeda he said quietly "I think he understands."  
>"Thanks" she replied, taking her grandson in her arms, and burying her face in his hair, trying to hide the tears that had formed in her eyes. She held on tight, as if trying to hold onto all that she had left of her daughter.<p>

"Now now!" Mr. Granger cried out, noticing all of the sad and forlorn looking faces of those remembering those lost. "Christmas isn't a time to be sad. It's a time of happiness. I can honestly say that I don't think any of our lost loved ones would have wanted us to be sad, today especially. It's a time to celebrate. Look around us! Just in the past two days, we've celebrated new life, love, and friendship!" He looked at Victoire nestled securely in Fleur's arms, at the couples scattered around the room, before glancing around at every person in the room.

"Mr. Granger's right" Ron agreed. "It's okay to miss them, but we can't dwell on them. We need to remember them, and then move on with our lives. They know how much we love them, and that we're never going to forget them."

Various heads around the room nodded, and hands quickly wiped away tears.

"Now then" a slightly red-eyed Molly said. "We have a tree to finish decorating, and a kitchen full of Christmas candy to eat! We'd better get going!"

And so the last remaining Christmas ornaments were placed on the tree, and the Christmas treats were brought out. The radio played "Silent Night" quietly as they watched it snow outside from the big bay front window.

Hermione left for a moment to get a cup of hot tea. She got cold rather easily, especially after the winter she, Harry, and Ron had spent in the cold little borrowed tent.

Then she returned her original spot, perched on the hearth of the fireplace, next to Ron. He placed an arm gently around her waist, and she laid her head on his shoulder, humming along with the music.

Mr. and Mrs. Granger saw this action and smiled at the couple. Hermione and Ron reminded them of them as kids- young and totally and completely in love. The Grangers had met at school when there were young, had been best friends, and had realized that they felt more than friendship for each other. They'd married two years after high school. There was no other man for their daughter. They were sure of that. Their little girl was happy in the arms of Ron – if she was happy, they were too.

They all sat in the living room until nearly midnight talking about Christmas' past. Mrs. and Mrs. Granger told about Hermione and Jamie's first Christmas- Hermione had finally told the others about her brother. "Since it was just us that Christmas, I gave Mr. Granger the twins and told him to keep them out of my way."

Hermione smiled. She knew where this was headed. "He got out their finger painting set someone had given them and helped them make a Christmas card for me. As much as I appreciated the card and the gesture, I did not appreciate having to clean up the entire den the next day. They got paint everywhere- except for the card! I to this day do NOT believe that you were watching them. I think you set out their paints and then took a nap!"  
>"I was watching them the whole time!" Mr. Granger weakly protested. "I think…"<p>

"That's what I thought" Hermione's mum laughed.

"I remember my first Christmas right after I had Ginny" Mrs. Weasley said, fondly looking at her grown up little girl. "All of the boys had decided to give me the day off as a Christmas present. So Arthur, Bill and Charlie made dinner, and Fred, George, and Percy watched Ginny and Ron."

"I remember that!" Percy interrupted. "I remember Fred and George insisted that I call them Gred and Forge all day and kept wanting to turn Ron's teddy bear into a spider. They thought it would be so funny. They got made because I kept telling them no- I guess they got their way about that eventually."  
>"Well, the boys in the kitchen were working all day, and the others were far to quiet. So I went upstairs to see what they were doing, because quiet in this house means trouble. It turns out they were helping Ginny and Ron make a shirt for me with their hand and feet prints on it. They gave it to me that night after we'd had one of the best Christmas dinners I'd had in a long time. That was undoubtedly my favorite Christmas."<p>

"Mine was my first Christmas at Hogwarts" Harry said, looking at them from his spot on the floor where he was helping Teddy sit up. "I had never had a Christmas before- the Dursleys would lock me in my closet until after they opened presents, on a good year give me a pair of socks as a present, and then make me help Aunt Petunia make dinner. Then they would give me leftovers and send me to my closet while they and Aunt Marge stuffed their faces and made fun of me. That Christmas at Hogwarts was the first time I'd ever had a real Christmas present, and had a full meal that I didn't have to make. And it was the first Christmas I spent with people who could actually stand the sight of me, and who wanted to spend time with me."  
>"Wasn't that the Christmas you got your invisibility cloak, mate?" Ron asked.<p>

"Yep. I remember sneaking out that night to look up stuff on Nicholas Flammel."

"Good times. Good times" they said together.

"You remember our second year, when we took the Polyjuice potion to find our about the Chamber of Secrets? And I turned myself into a cat?" Hermione asked with a laugh.

"How could I forget?" Ron answered as the adults laughed. Then he looked seriously at Victoire and Teddy. "Do not EVER be like us, children. I'm pretty sure that your parents would kill you if you did half of the stuff we did in school. And this is just some of the minor stuff." He cracked a smile as the adults laughed harder. "Maybe it wouldn't be that bad…" More laughter.

The clock struck midnight. "Merry Christmas Everyone!" Mr. Weasley said standing up. "We should probably get to bed." They all agreed. Mrs. Weasley took Mr. and Mrs. Granger up to Fred and George's room and Andromeda and Teddy to Charlie's. The rest dispersed to their rooms. Hermione and Ron were the last ones out. As they passed the big bay window together, they stopped to watch the still falling snow. Ron looked up at the ceiling and found what he'd been looking for. His face lit up. Hermione looked up and then looked back at him. She stepped into his arms and met his lips with hers as they stood under the mistletoe.

"Merry Christmas, Mione" Ron whispered to her, before walking with her up the stairs.

Hermione went inside Ginny's room. "What took you so long?" Ginny smirked as they changed for bed.  
>"There may or may not have been a piece of mistletoe in the downstairs vicinity that Ron and I may or may not have taken advantage of."<br>"I know that there's a piece there. Because I put it there for me and Harry to use. And someone," Ginny paused to playfully hit Hermione with her pillow, "beat us to it!"

"You snooze you loose!" Hermione teased.  
>"So what did you get Ron for Christmas?" Ginny asked, switching subjects.<p>

"I got him a pair of tickets for the Chudley Cannons Quidditch playoffs that's over spring break. I figured that five games of Quidditch over a three day period attended with whoever he wanted to be there would be something he might like to do. What about you? What'd you get Harry?"  
>"That" Ginny declared dramatically "is a surprise."<p>

**A/N at the bottom this time :D Hope you liked the chapter. I put a lot of my own memories into this one... according to my mom, I made shirts like the ones the young Weasley's made for Molly for my Dad and my Grandpa, and my sister and I have an ornament that we still fight over to this day, and we're teenagers! It's suppose to be Tigger from Winnie the Pooh when he's a baby. It's adorable! Anyway... Just to remind, I'm not going to be posting next week, cuz I have a house full of people and no computer access. So I will be back the first weekend in February!  
>Until then,<br>Keep reading and keep reviewing!**


	45. Christmas Day

**I'm sorry I'm late updating this chapter. These past two weeks have been really stressful and I really haven't felt like writing. We had a bunch of people over, and then I had a music competition, and then I had a bunch of tests, and I was sleep deprived, and then I got sick, and then I had finals (yes, semester finals- my school year started really late this year) and I'm having a bunch of friend problems right now, and overall, all of this has me in a pretty bad mood. I should have wrote this chapter a long time ago- pounding on my key board has been theraputic.**

**Wow, when I read that over, that's a really big rant. Sorry. Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter!**

Chapter 45

The next morning they slept until nearly nine, taking advantage of the dwindling opportunities they had left to sleep in on Christmas. Next year Teddy and Victoire would know all about Christmas and all that it entails.

"Morning" Ginny smiled, shaking Hermione awake, still rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she did so.

"Morning" Hermione replied.

They pulled dressing gowns over their pajamas and grabbed a small pile of presents each to take down to the tree.

They were the last ones down. "It's about time, sleepy heads!" Bill teased. "I remember a time, Ginny that we would have been down here and done with presents three hours ago!"

"So do I" Mrs. Weasley and Mrs. Granger grumbled together.

Hermione sat down between her parents and Ron after she'd given out her presents. Mrs. Weasley and Ginny distributed the other gifts other the tree and then the present unwrapping commenced. Andromeda and Bill and Fleur helped their children open their gifts first.

Teddy squealed with delight at the books Hermione had given him. She'd went to several used bookshops, both Muggle and Magical, and enchanted the books she'd bought to do something special when someone turned a page.

Andromeda opened the animal sounds book to a picture of a cow, which, thanks to Hermione, mooed quite loudly. "Mooo!" Teddy imitated, clapping his hands and grabbing the book from his grandmother.

"Thank you, dear" Andromeda said. "He's going to enjoy these!" She still seemed quite sad, but Hermione completely understood. Christmas' without family members were always hard- especially when you know that there won't ever be another Christmas with them.

Victoire got a baby blanket that Hermione had been knitting. It was a silver yarn with patches of pink and baby blue scattered throughout it. "Hermione, zees iz magnifique!" Fleur said, feeling the softness of the blanket. "How did you have the time?"

"I've been working on it for over a month. It was going to be for you and Bill for when the baby came, but when Victoire made her entrance into the world, I decided to add her name to the tag."

"This is very well done, Hermione" her mother praised. "You've really improved in these past couple of years."

Hermione blushed. "Your turn Ron" she then said. The others had began opening their presents and weren't paying attention to her and Ron. He opened the small box and gazed at the contents. "What!" he exclaimed, clearly delighted. "I've been trying to get tickets to these matches for a month! How did you get them?"**(A/N: In case you don't remember, Hermione told Ginny in the last chapter that she was getting Ron a pair of tickets to a Quidditch championship that the Cannons were playing at)**

"I got them two months ago" Hermione replied with a grin.

"Thank you" Ron said, kissing her lightly. "Who's the second ticket for?"

"Anyone you want… Harry or George or Ginny or…"

"Or you? Because that who I'm going to pick."

"I was going to say Bill. It's your choice."

"I'm still choosing you."

"You do realize that you're going to have to explain the game to me right? And that you would have more fun with Harry?"

"There's a reason I'm not going to bring Harry. Just watch!"  
>Moments later, Harry pulled out a pair of tickets matching Ron's. Harry looked up and both the boys waved their tickets at one another and said "Awesome!"<p>

"I guess we're all going together!" Hermione giggled.

Ron pushed a package towards her. "Now you."

She opened it and revealed two things; a book and a card. Looking at the book, she saw it was a collection of Jane Austen books- a muggle author she enjoyed. Then she opened the card. Two tickets fell out; Hermione picked them up, and scanned the note that accompanied them in the card.

"Mione," it read, in Ron's untidy scrawl. "The tickets are for the 28th- I don't know if you've heard of these people or not, but I guess they're famous piano players. I figured that since you've been playing for so long, that you would like to see them in concert. Ron"

Hermione had a faint idea of who the card talked about- she'd been wanting to see them for forever. She peeked at the tickets, and let out a small squeal. It was a pair of tickets to see the Five Browns- a group of five brothers and sisters who all played piano, and who had arrangements of various songs for five pianos.

"Ron, this is amazing!" she said, flying at him and embracing him. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! I've loved listening to their music for practically forever, but they've never been anywhere even remotely close to here!"

"You like it?"

"Love it- you're coming with me, right?"

"I was hoping you would ask me that. Shall we make a date of it?"

"I was hoping you would ask that!"

Then she kissed him firmly on the lips.

The adults in the room looked around, caught between being uncomfortable, and being caught up in the cuteness of the situation.

Hermione broke away, looked around nervously, and blushed. "I, uh, have something for you" she said to her parents, trying to cover the awkwardness of the situation. She handed them a package, saying "Merry Christmas!"

They opened it and sighed, "Hermione!" In it was a large photo album with all of the family pictures that had been stored on the discs Hermione had recovered from the fire. She'd been working on it for the better part of two weeks, trying her best to put the pictures into chronological order.

"Thank you, baby" her mother said, wiping her eyes on her sleeve as she paged through the book.

Her mother and father pulled her into their arms. "You know," her mother whispered into her hair, "last Christmas I had the distinct impression that I was missing someone. I just didn't know who."

* * *

><p>As always, Christmas dinner at the Weasley's didn't disappoint. The combined families sat down at the table for a wonderful smelling dinner, after a day of playing with the babies, out in the freshly fallen snow, and enjoying each other's company.<p>

They stayed gathered around the table well after dinner had ended, chatting, thankful to be together.

Finally, Mr. Weasley stood from the table, and a hush fell over the room. "I would like to thank everyone for a wonderful Christmas. It has been an honor and a blessing to have everyone here for Christmas, family and nonfamily. Because in our hearts, we are a family. And now, I would like to propose a toast: To moving on, to new beginnings, and to family and friends. Most of all, to love and friendship. May they never die."

The table raised their glasses, looking across the table at their friends and loved ones, before drinking.


	46. Hostages

**I apologize profusely about the long delay. I've had a lot going on lately, and I had a really bad case of writer's block when it came to this story. But then I went to Florida and went to Universal's The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, and became inspired again. I will try to post something this week, but I'm not making any promises, because it all depends on how much homework my teachers decide to pile on me. **

**Read and review!**

Chapter 46

"Say, Ronald" Percy said, coming up to him the day after Christmas. "I have the day off tomorrow."

"That's cool, Perce" Ron replied, not quite seeing the point in telling him this fact.

"What would you say to the two of us going out and doing something- maybe go for lunch and then going to a muggle Rugby match or something? We've both been so busy with school and work that we really haven't gotten to spend much time together."

"I don't know, Percy" Ron said, sounding doubtful. It wasn't that he doubted him brother- it was the fact that he didn't know if he could stay sane alone with his brother for a whole afternoon.

"Please, Ron? I'm trying to make an effort in this family. You are really the only one that's been distant with me, and I want to make amends for what I did. Will you just give me a chance?"

"Ginny and you are getting on alright?" If you could worm your way back into Ginny's good graces, then you could do just about anything.

"Yeah. I took her out to lunch and we talked for a couple of hours. It was good for the both of us."

"Well, I guess if Ginny could do it, then I can too. I'll go."

"Great! Thank you! Well, I told Audrey I would be back for dinner. See you later, little brother."

"See ya later Percy."

* * *

><p>"Percy and I are going to do something, just the two of us, tomorrow" Ron told Hermione that night.<p>

"Really? That's nice." Then she looked at him curiously. "How do you feel about doing it?"

"How is it that you always know what I'm thinking?"

"I'm intuitive like that" she smiled at him.

"I guess I'm a bit nervous."

"About what?"

"It's just…what if there's too much to forgive? He walked out on our family, Hermione! He completely ignored us for two years, and acted like we'd walked off the face of the earth. What if it's too late to make amends for all of that?"

"If it's really something you want, you'll find a way to make it happen. He's your brother, Ron. Don't forget that. He knows what he did was stupid, and he's trying to make amends for it. Try to let him. Deep down, you love him."

"How is it that you always know what to say?"

"Again, I'm intuitive like that."

"Whatcha two talking about?" Ginny asked, striding into the kitchen, and grabbing an apple out of the bowl of fruit on the table.

"Percy wants to take me for lunch and a rugby match so that we can talk."

"Yeah, I knew he wanted to do something with you. The rugby match was my idea, actually."

"I can't believe that you forgave him as easily as you did" Ron said, amazed. "I forget that it's your birthday for two seconds and you don't talk to me for a week!"

"You deserved that, for forgetting my birthday. But, trust me it took a while for me to forgive Percy. We had a lot to talk about."

"But, still. You of all people…"

"He took me out for lunch, and we talked for a better part of the afternoon. About everything. A lot of things got cleared up. I understand why he thought he felt the need to leave, and he understands why we thought he was wrong to do so. Hopefully you guys will clear some of the same stuff up."

"Yeah, hopefully."

* * *

><p>As the next morning dawned, Ron and Percy stood in the kitchen, preparing to leave for the day.<p>

"Alright, Ron. I've just gotten an owl from the office and they said they need some paperwork of mine, so I need to get that and give it to someone, and then the day is ours."

"Sounds great, Perce" Ron answered. "I'll see you later" he then told Hermione, giving her a quick hug and a kiss.

"Have fun. Promise me that you'll try. And…" she hesitated a moment. "Be careful"

"I will try. There's a lot we have to work through. But why are you telling me to be careful?"

"I just have a feeling. Call it silly…"

"I'll be fine. Don't worry! See you later!"

He waited patiently as Percy kissed Audrey, who was going to be spending the day at the Burrow.

"We will see everyone later!" Percy called to the house before he and his younger brother walked out the door and disapperated.

* * *

><p>"Thank you for doing this, Ron" Percy said as they stood in his office a couple minutes later. "Have a seat- I just have to find this folder…" He started digging through an overstuff filing cabinet.<p>

"It's not that hard to sit and wait in your office, Perce" Ron joked.

"Haha" Percy answered dryly. "I meant thanks for wanting to work through this. I realize that I hurt our whole family, but I think it might have hurt you most of all. You were carrying the weight of the wizarding world on your shoulders, and you needed all of the help that you could get. And I was anything but helpful. Ok- got it! Let me give this to my boss, and then we can get going. Come this way."

Percy led them out into the main area of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, where a secretary sat at a desk in front of a closed door.

"Good morning, Patricia" Percy said as she looked up. "Is Mr. Clatter in?"

The brown haired secretary, about ready to answer, caught sight of something over

Percy's shoulder, her green eyes growing wide.

"What is it?" Percy asked, turning around, his wand drawn. And then his wand was whirling out of his hand, into the outstretched hand of the man dressed in black approaching him.

Ron reached quickly into the pocket of his jeans where he normally kept his wand.

Except it wasn't there.

"Ron" Percy said quietly as they backed towards the desk. "Get out. Disapparate."

"My wands gone" Ron replied in a mutter. "Took mine before he took yours."

A loud 'bang!' echoed through the large room as all of the doors slammed shut and locked with an eerie clicking sound.

The sound of the doors shutting brought streams of people out of their offices. Cries of "what's going on?" echoed throughout the room.

"I can answer that question" the figure in black said in a gravelly voice, speaking for the first time. "You are my prisoners. No one is leaving until I have punished the very last man and woman who helped bring down the Dark Lord."

People automatically felt in the pockets of their robes for their wands.

"It's no use" the mystery person sneered. "They are gone." Then he grabbed a young, blonde woman from the crowd, and pressed his wand into her throat. "Now everyone against a wall! Now! Or she dies!"

Frantically, the workers scrambled to do what they were told.

But Ron could have sworn that he saw someone raise a section of curtain covering the window of Mr. Clatter's office. He realized that he'd never seen the man leave his office. Silently, he prayed that the man would get help.

* * *

><p>Hermione was uneasy from the minute that Ron had left.<p>

"Hermione, will you relax!" Ginny asked exasperatedly, as she watched Hermione pace the floor yet again an hour after the boys had left. "What are you so worked up about?"

"I really don't know. I just have this bad feeling. I have a feeling that something bad is going to happen, and I'm not going to be able to do anything about it."

"Hermione, nothing is going to happen. Everyone and everything will be fine, alright?"

"Alright" she answered uncertainly. "I really hope that you are right."

The Patronus came ten minutes later in the shape of a badger with Kingsley's deep booming voice: "There has been an infiltration at the Ministry. A Death Eater, using Polyjuice Potion, has snuck into the Department of International Magical Cooperation. If you are receiving this message, a member of your family was in the department at the time of the incident and has been taken hostage. Aurors are attempting to control the situation as I speak. The Death Eater has said that no one has been seriously hurt, and we have no evidence saying otherwise. We are working as quickly as we can to get your loved ones back to you."

Hermione and Audrey looked at each other, looks of pure panic on their faces.

"Percy had to run into the office this morning" Audrey said as she sank, white faced, into a nearby chair.

"Ginny- get your mother! Now!" Hermione said as she sank down next to Audrey, unable to believe what the patronus had said.

Molly came running down the stairs after her daughter, closely followed by Harry and Mrs. Granger. "What happened!" she asked frantically.

Hermione relayed to her the information the patronus had just given, watching as Molly dropped into a chair and sank her head into her hands. "My babies" she whispered.

"The man has said that no one has been hurt, Molly" Mrs. Granger said, trying to reassure her. "We have to believe that, girls. Percy and Ron are going to come back to us and they are going to be fine. Understand?"

The family remained huddled in the living room for the next several hours, waiting for information that did not come. Dinner came and passed, and no one said anything. They didn't have the heart to eat. Arthur and Mr. Granger came back from a house hunting trip and joined their vigil.**(A/N: Did I mention in the last couple chapters that the Grangers are looking for a house?)**

* * *

><p>Ron and Percy arrived in front of the Burrow with a loud crack.<p>

"Let's get inside" Percy said, dabbing at a bleeding lip with a handkerchief. "Audrey and Mum and Hermione are all probably frantic."

"Seconded" Ron replied.

They opened the door, and were shocked that no one came running. They continued on to the living room, where they found Audrey, Mrs. Weasley, and Hermione all staring into the fireplace, unmoving. Ginny was curled up against Harry, asleep, and Mr. Weasley sat in his favorite armchair, trying, but not succeeding, to read the Evening Prophet.

"We're home" Percy said, his voice loud in the deathly silent room.

"Percy!" Audrey cried, springing up and rushing into Percy's arms, sobbing. "I was so worried!"

"I'm alright, dearest" he murmured, rubbing her back and holding her tightly.

"No you're not!" she cried, pulling back and gently touching his still bleeding lip. "What happened?"

"Give us a minute and then we'll tell you."

While this happy reunion was occurring, Ron tripped dazedly over to where Hermione stood next to the sofa, and wrapped her in his arms. "You were right" he whispered into her hair as he gently stroked her hair, letting his fingers tangle into it.

"It's you" she said in disbelief. "You're real!"

"Well, yeah, I'm real! What'd you expect?"

"I thought… I thought…" she burst into tears. "Don't scare me like that!"

"Hey- I'm fine, Mione. I promise." He pressed a kiss into her hair, and then put a hand on her cheek, gently guiding her lips up to hers.

"No you're not" she said when they broke away. "What happened?" she asked, gently stroking his red and swollen cheek before moving onto his blackening eye.

"I think we would all like to know" Mr. Weasley said, breaking in.

"Ronald! Percy!" Mrs. Weasley cried as she engulfed them both in a gigantic hug, having waited long enough to hold her boys in her arms and assure herself that they were safe.

"We're fine, Mum. Honestly" Ron said, gently prying himself out of her arms. "Why don't we all sit down, and we can tell you what happened."

**Cliffhanger! Who was the man in black? And why did he sneak into the ministry? I guess we'll all find out next week, because I haven't written it yet, so I have about as much clue as the rest of you!**


	47. Ron and Percy's Tale

**I'm sorry this chapter isn't very long. I've kinda had a bad week, and I didn't feel like writing that much. Let me know if this chapter sucks too horribly, and I'll do my best to improve it.**

**Read and Review!**

Chapter 47

"Why don't we all sit down, and we can tell you what happened" Ron said, gently prying his mother off of him and leading her to her favorite rocking chair. Hermione sat down next to Ron on the sofa next to Mrs. Weasley. She gently laid a hand on his stomach, noticing him slightly wince.

"Ok, what happened?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"Where should we start, Perce?"

"At the beginning, I guess. Well, Ron and I had just walked out of my office to give a couple of papers to Mr. Clatter, when I noticed his secretary looking over my shoulder at something. So I turned around to see who it was, and it was this man dressed in black. We both reached for our wands, but they were both gone…"

Flashback:

The man in black herded everyone, first against the walls of the department, and then into a small office.

"What do you want with us?" A small, blonde haired woman asked in a small voice. "Please! I have three kids I have to get back to!"

"You can leave when I say you can leave!" he snarled at her. She quietly backed into a corner, and was instantly surrounded by people, trying to shield her from any harm he might bring upon her.

"Now then…" the man said, taking a mental inventory of the room. "Yes, you five will do nicely" he told five stocky, strong looking men. His arm shot out, capturing another woman. Clearly, he'd chosen his victim well, as one of the men stiffened considerably, never taking his eyes off of her. "Into that office! Now!" None of the five moved. "Or she dies" he said quietly, pushing his wand into her throat. They moved through the door as he told them too. The man followed them in, leaving the girl outside of the door he closed as soon as he'd entered the office space.

About five minutes later, the men reemerged, apparently unharmed, and carrying their wands.

"What's going on, Jackson?" the woman who'd been grabbed earlier asked. "Is he letting us go? Why do you have your wand?"

In response, Jackson pointed his wand at her and calmly replied "Crucio!"

The woman crumpled to the floor in a heap, her screams echoing throughout the room. "Don't! Jackson! Please! It's Madison! Don't hurt me!"  
>Instantly, Ron's mind went to the night at Malfoy Manor, and Hermione's screams as she was tortured at the wand of Bellatrix Lestrange. He leapt up. "Got to help her- Hermione!"<p>

Percy pushed his brother back onto the floor. "Are you crazy? Do NOT Move! You can't do anything for her!"  
>"Yeah, and I couldn't do anything for Hermione, either! I'm not about to stand by and let it happen to someone else, Percy!"<p>

Before Percy could grab him again, Ron jumped up and tackled Jackson to the ground, breaking the curse's contact with Madison's body. He had just enough time to see a few other women drag her out of sight and out of danger.

Things quickly went south for Ron. Had Ron only been up against Jackson, he had a fighting chance of winning the fight, as Jackson's wand had been knocked out of his hand when Ron had tackled him. But the minute Ron tackled Jackson, the four other burly men recruited by the man in black joined the fight. Ron didn't stand a chance- the fight was over before it had even begun. Two of the men grabbed Ron by his arms, holding him upright so that he couldn't move, as Jackson and a bulky blond man repeatedly punched him in the stomach and in the face, only stopping when Percy ran up. "Stop! Leave him! Take me if you need a punching bag!"  
>The goons only laughed, and let Ron roughly drop to the floor. He groaned as Percy hauled him up and dragged him back over to their wall.<p>

"What the bloody hell was that all about?" he hissed. "You could have died! As sad and infuriating as it was that that woman was being tortured, you should have left it!"  
>"Like I left Hermione to deal with Bellatrix all on her own" Ron replied snarkily. "I promised myself that day that I would do anything to stop the torture of another person, after I heard Hermione's screams. I'm not about to give up on that promise."<p>

"Since when is my little brother, whose scared of spiders, the most courageous person I know?"  
>"Since I grew up" Ron laughed, before groaning and putting a hand to his aching ribs. "You weren't so bad either, you know."<br>"Why thank you. I hope that you would have done the same thing for me."

"I would have."  
>"You think we'll get out of here alive?"<p>

"Yeah, I think we will. This guy seems pretty tame compared to some of the Death Eaters I've seen."

"I agree… I wonder who he is…"

As if reading their minds, a loud voice boomed across the office where the group was being help captive. "Thomas Anderson! We know you are currently holding twenty-eight people hostage in this office building. We are willing to negotiate for their safe release!"

* * *

><p>"So that was it?" Ginny asked as Ron stopped speaking for a minute. "Then why did you two take so long getting home?"<br>"The ministry was willing to negotiate but Anderson was not" Percy replied bitterly. "It took quite a bit of time for them to talk him out of that office. We just sat in the office all day. We were all too scared to attempt another sort of uprising just based on what the thugs did to Ron, especially since they had wands and we didn't."

"Where were your wands?" Harry asked. "How did he take them?"

"I have no bloody clue how he got them, but when he was searched later, he had every single one of our bloody wands!" Ron exclaimed. "But anyway, he got carted off to Azkaban, but I doubt they'll keep him there very long. Probably stick him in a guarded psyche ward or something since there is definitely something wrong with him, but he didn't hurt any of us!"

"They hurt you, Ron!" Hermione cried, gently touching his still sore stomach to prove her point.

"That was the thugs, Mione, and they were under the imperious curse."

Her only response was to snuggle closely into his side and kiss his t-shirt clad shoulder.

"Where'd your bruises go, Ron?" his father asked, closely examining his son's face.

"We may have stopped into WWW so that we could pick up some bruise remover crème from George."

"His face was pretty scary looking, and he didn't want anyone to worry."

"I'm always going to worry about my boys, Ron" Molly admonished. "Well, I'm about ready for bed. I'm so glad that you both are safe!"

"Good night, Mum" the living room called. "Night, Dad" they added as Arthur stood up to join his wife.

"You about ready to go home, Aud?" Percy quietly asked his wife, who nodded, eager to have her husband all to herself.

* * *

><p>Soon the living room was empty except for Hermione and Ron.<p>

"Are you sure you're fine?" she asked him.

"Yes, Hermione, I am fine! Stop worrying!"  
>"I'm allowed to worry! You scared me! I didn't know if you were ever going to come back!"<p>

"Hermione, look at me. I will always come back, alright? Always."

**Again, let me know if I should rewrite any bit of it. I know that I can do better, but I've had a pretty drama filled week and I really haven't felt like writing... I just have to rant about it, so you can skip this next paragraph if you dont want to find out about my drama**

**My BGF asked one of my friends to prom a couple weeks ago, and its been nothing but drama since, because he wants it to be a prelude to a relationship, and shes pretty much told him that he has no chance with her. So I'm pretty sure they called it off. But tonite, I heard thru the grapevine (which stung quite a bit because she called three or four of my other friends, who all told me, but didn't think it important enough to let me know Guys that she doesnt even talk to found out before I did! One bright side- one of those guys was my crush and he somehow got my number and we talked for a while...) that she's going to prom with a guy that my BGF cannot stand! I swear- my friend has changed SOOO much these past few years, its like shes almost a completely different person. Sorry, rant over. Still not feeling all that great... I guess it was worth a try, though**


	48. Author's Note

Author's Note: I really hate it when I get an alert for a new story and I see that it's an author's note. But, I haven't posted a new chapter in quite a while, and I thought that you, my readers, should probably know why. I have a horrible case of writer's block. I know where I want my story to go, but I don't quite know how to get there with it. I have a bunch of ideas, but based on how the story is right now, they won't work. So, The Way We Live Now is getting a "makeover". I'm going to rewrite some of the parts that I don't like, and fix things so that my new ideas will fit in with the existing story. Once I have the story fixed and a couple of new chapters written, they will be up. I promise! I will finish this story, but it just might take a little while. Sorry readers, but hang in there :D


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